2.1 Existing Activities

Existing Simplified System without DIDO

The following is only a simplified list of the steps involved in providing Sal's strawberries from field to table. Its a long supply chain with each step adding risk the quality of the strawberries and/ or the safety of the strawberries.

1. The strawberries are grown in a field. Only some of the risks are controllable. For example, feral swine can run through the field¹⁾
2. The strawberries are placed in reused field baskets / boxes
3. The boxes are moved from the field to a small truck where they are hauled to a central packing house for cleaning, grading, and packaging.
4. The packaged strawberries are then backed in larger boxes and placed on a pallet
5. The palleted strawberries are moved to cold storage
6. The strawberries are sold/purchased by wholesalers
7. The strawberries are loaded on to refrigerated trucks for distribution to owners cold storage facility
8. The Strawberries are inspected for quality
9. The strawberries are placed in a Cold Storage warehouse with other products owned by the wholesaler
10. The strawberries are loaded onto trucks bound for the retail outlets (i.e., grocery stores, fruit stands, restaurant, etc.
11. The Consumer selects the Strawberries and places them in a cart or basket and goes to checkout
12. The Consumers purchases are put in bags and placed into a car to be taken home
13. The strawberries are placed into the consumer's refrigerator along with other new purchases and with products already in the refridgerator
14. The strawberries are consumed, usually as raw fruit at the table or as snacks

Figure 1: A simple, idealized traditional Supply Chain - Field to table for Strawberries

When record keeping gets added to the Supply Chain, the complexity can be overwhelming. Fortunately, from a supply chain perspective, most the of the time the records end up being superfluous, but when there are problems with food safety the records are essential in tracking down the cause of the problem. In agriculture, as you move towards the source of the Supply Chain, many of the records are are non-digital.

Most farms collect data in some form. Much of this may be in personal notebooks and mandatory compliance forms. Precision farming equipment, machinery, and mobile and desktop apps also collect agricultural data.²⁾

In addition to the Health and Safety aspects of record keeping in the Supply Chain there are other important uses for the data. For example, improvements in efficiency that effect time to market, quality of the products delivered, or reducing wastage.

• Note: The data logging and storage of data in the diagram is intended only for discussion purposes of the Supply Chain and not a specific implementation. This is particularly true when portions of the Supply Chain become Value Chains.

Figure 2: A simple, idealized traditional Supply Chain with record keeping