Food and beverage traceability, from intake to dispatch.
For food and drink processors, packers and cold-storage operators. We design RFID, RTLS and sensor monitoring for batch and WIP traceability, returnable crates and pallets, and cold-chain records, integrated with the ERP, MES and WMS you already run.
Vendor-neutral, with no tags, sensors or platform of our own to sell.
Food environments punish naive tracking.
Water, cold and product
Washdown, condensation and high-moisture product detune RFID. What works in a dry warehouse may fail on the line.
Traceability on paper
Batch records often live on sheets and in spreadsheets, so a recall or audit means hours of reconstruction.
Leaking carrier pools
Crates, trays and pallets leave the site and do not come back, and nobody can say where the pool leaks.
Food and beverage use cases we design for.
WIP & batch traceability
Batch-to-carrier and carrier-to-location events through intake, processing, packing and dispatch. See WIP & material flow and quality traceability.
Cold storage & cold chain
Temperature and location monitoring for cold rooms, freezers and distribution, with alarms and HACCP records. See cold-chain monitoring.
Returnable crates & pallets
Crates, trays, totes and pallets read at dispatch and return to size and protect the pool. See returnable assets.
Allergen & line segregation
Location events that show which carriers and equipment passed through which line or zone.
Dock reconciliation
Pallet-level reads at dock doors checked against orders and advance shipping notices.
Recall readiness
Traceability held as data in the ERP, MES or WMS, so a mock recall is a query, not a search.
What you gain
Batch traceability on demand
Every batch linked to the carriers and locations it passed through. Measured as time to complete a mock recall and traceability gaps found at audit.
WIP you can see
Live WIP location instead of line-start and line-end snapshots. Measured as WIP accuracy against the MES, and dwell at the constraint.
Cold-chain records you can defend
Continuous temperature and location records instead of manual checks. Measured as excursions detected, response time and manual log effort.
A carrier pool that stops leaking
Crate and pallet reads at dispatch and return. Measured as pool loss rate, cycle time and replacement spend.
Cleaner dispatch
Pallet-level dock reconciliation. Measured as shipping errors and customer claims.
In an engagement Dylan led before founding TRACIO, a multinational FMCG packaging plant moved from no real-time view of work-in-progress to 99.2% WIP accuracy across six production lines, with real-time pallet-level dock reconciliation, as reported at the time. The client name is withheld under NDA. Read the FMCG WIP RFID case study →
How an engagement works in food and beverage
Gate-governed: no work below the line until the gate above is signed off, and you can stop at any gate and keep the artefacts from that stage.
| Stage | What you get | Typical duration | Indicative fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Discovery & scoping sprint | Use cases, constraints, systems of record, baseline and a go/no-go view | 1–5 days on site | Fixed fee, £3k–£9.5k |
| 2 · Vendor selection & RFP support | Requirements, shortlist, RFP pack, scoring matrix and TCO | 3–6 weeks | Fixed fee, £6k–£19k |
| 3 · Pilot design & oversight | Pilot scope, written pass/fail criteria, acceptance tests and the gate review | 4–10 weeks | Fixed fee + day-rate, £9.5k–£30k |
| 4 · Rollout | Implementation oversight or full programme delivery, if you want it | Per project | SOW, from £30k |
Indicative ranges from How we work & fees. Fees are confirmed in writing after scoping, and exclude hardware, software licences, third-party costs and travel & expenses, which we never mark up because we do not resell them. Calls and engagements are run in English.
What we need from you
- A sponsor in operations or quality, and an owner for the system of record: ERP, MES or WMS.
- Line layouts, carrier types and your cleaning and washdown regime, so tags and read points can be tested against them.
- Access for line walkthroughs and on-product tag tests, planned around production and hygiene rules.
- Your current traceability and HACCP records, even if they are on paper.
Frequently asked questions
Does RFID work in wet, cold food production areas?
It can, but moisture, product detuning and washdown are the main failure modes. Tags, mountings and read points have to be tested on your product and cleaning regime before rollout, not taken from a retail or lab benchmark.
Should we tag cases, crates or pallets?
Usually the returnable carrier: crate, tote, tray or pallet. It carries the batch through production and is reused, so the tag cost is spread. Item-level tagging is justified only when the item itself must be traced.
How does tracking help with recalls and traceability rules?
Recording batch-to-carrier and carrier-to-location events gives you one-step-back, one-step-forward traceability as data rather than paperwork, so a mock recall becomes a query. The record has to live in your ERP, MES or WMS, not a separate dashboard.
Can you help with cold storage and cold-chain monitoring?
Yes. We design temperature and location monitoring for cold rooms, blast freezers and distribution, with alarms and HACCP records going to the systems your quality team already uses. See cold-chain monitoring.
How do we stop losing returnable crates and pallets?
Tag the carriers and read them at dispatch and return points, including at customer and supplier sites where practical. That shows where the pool leaks and supports deposit or recharge conversations. See returnable assets.
How long does a food and beverage engagement take and what does it cost?
A discovery sprint is typically 1–5 days on site, vendor selection 3–6 weeks and pilot design and oversight 4–10 weeks. Indicative fixed-fee ranges are on How we work & fees.
Do you sell tags, sensors or traceability software?
No. TRACIO sells no hardware or software and takes no vendor commission. We write the requirements, test vendor claims on your line, and help you accept what you buy.
Solutions for this industry
Relevant case studies
Related: manufacturing, logistics, retail, cold chain & pharma and vendor selection.
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