OUR APPROACH
The Piroto team have a high level of expertise in food traceability labelling, and the first step was to walk through the packaging process on-site to fully understand all the challenges.
We found that the trace labels passed through several processes and thus needed to be robust to stay attached and maintain full traceability throughout.
First, the label is printed with a QR code, then it is applied to the plastic vacuum pouch. At the point of application, the meat is inside the vac pack pouch, though the pouch is not sealed.
During the next step, the labelled vacuum pack passes through an automated line where the pouch is sealed. It then continues its journey through a warm water wash to sterilise and tighten the vac pack.
Once sealed and sterilised, the pack goes through an air blowing process to remove excess water from the surface. At this point, the small QR code label is scanned, and the final product label is printed and applied, before the vacuum pack is loaded into a carton.