Technology company TEN Ag Tech will soon give grocery retailers a new level of transparency within their supply chains, helping them satisfy increased consumer demand for food transparency. 

The company, established in 2011 and based in southern California, operates two independent business models, both connected to a unique cloud-based business intelligence engine: True Grade Consumer-to-Farm (C2F) and True Grade Business-to-Business.

The True Grade C2F operations enable brands to transparently connect consumers to the source of their eggs by giving them immediate, transparent, egg-specific insight every time they buy.

Egg code provides date, date laid, recall status, source farm, hen breed, egg color, housing, veterinary care, packing info, grade, size, and brand authenticity. Source: TEN Ag Tech

The technology uses an organic laser light to produce a chemical-free marking on eggs. Shoppers can then simply punch in the trace code from their eggs on the TrueGrade website to find out everything they need to know about the safety of the eggs.

Jonathan Phillips, president and chief executive officer of TEN Ag Tech, told Feedstuffs that the True Grade trace code is currently the only technology to give consumers immediate, transparent, egg-specific insight on the use-by date, date laid, recall status, source farm, hen breed, egg color, housing, veterinary care, packing info, grade, size and brand authenticity.

“It’s also the only technology to actively provide trace information while also automating food safety compliance at farm and/or packing operations,” he added.

TEN Ag Tech did a soft launch of the technology in the Chicago, Ill., area in 2015 with Dutch Farms' Naturally Smart Eggs and plans to roll out the technology further in 2016. 

“Not only is this new technology creating increased transparency in the dairy aisle, (but) TEN is also helping retailers to reduce the cost of waste and providing the ability for targeted, rapid tracking in the event of a recall of at-risk products,” the company stated.

For example, in the event of a salmonella outbreak, the company said each egg with the True Grade trace code can be tracked within 180 seconds of when it was packed, ensuring that there’s no uncertainty when it comes to the liability of the retailer. In 2014, TEN Ag Tech surpassed a half-billion eggs with True Grade trace code technology.  

New packaging and an expansion to a national footprint is planned for 2016 as the company also explores entering other food categories.

“We're proving our concept with eggs, but the ultimate goal is to expand our trace code technology across multiple food categories and to empower consumers with real-time information about the freshness and safety of all the fresh foods they consume," Phillips said. “We will also expand to some meat products and coffees in 2016, together with a planned major launch of a new retail brand through a high-profile partner.”

TEN Ag Tech’s True Grade Business-to-Business provides software and hardware for the world's farms, agricultural producers and processors and food, feed and beverage processors.  The company’s products provide solutions for biosecurity, inter-enterprise food safety and collaboration, inspection, risk prevention and mitigation. Additionally, the company said it provides a suite of full-service product traceability solutions.

Collectively, the products help improve the quality of food produced, ensure accountability and enable effortless yet detailed recordkeeping, the company explained.

The products are also engineered to meet the goals set by the U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act, to help comply with various aspects of CFR Title 21 (including related FDA, USDA and FSIS requirements), to help packers and processors with SQF adherence and to meet the commercial and vendor requirements of those seeking to lead in the food safety space.