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By Micki Seibel and Sarah Williams
Why Entrepreneurs Can Have an Impact In our previous Medium posts about traceability, we assessed what the path to better traceability standards will need to overcome. First, we laid out how changes in consumer demand are driving large-scale change in the food supply all the way back to the farm and boat. Next, we demonstrated how complex the food web can be throughout its many layers and international web of players. Third, we assessed how consumer brands are investing to substantiate their claims and meet regulatory compliance. In our final installment for this series, we explore something that emerges in each one of these arenas: opportunities for entrepreneurs to create new businesses. By Micki Seibel and Sarah Williams
What Stands Between Brands and Traceability No one feels the demands and costs of meeting traceability goals in the food system in the same way that established brands do. Demonstrating that a non-GMO product contains no GMO ingredients, ensuring that allergen declarations are 100% accurate, or otherwise proving sourcing and sustainability claims requires vigilance, and the cost of failure can torpedo a brand’s value, especially if health and food safety concerns concerns arise. By Micki Seibel and Sarah Williams
The Food Web Behind the Products Consumers want more transparency within the global food system, and that demand has already had an impact on the companies that produce and package food products. In the first part of our report, “Consumer Views of Truth,” we looked at that demand, along with the confusion in the marketplace around language, true meaning, and implications of claims related to sourcing, production practices, and nutrient content. In order to provide real transparency to consumers, companies need to provide full traceability that is founded upon verifiable facts on the ground and standards that inform the vocabulary. By Micki Seibel and Sarah Williams
Food Traceability Throughout the world’s food system, traceability has become a lightning rod for conversations and business activity in recent years. Drivers include consumer demand, new regulatory requirements, and increasing supply-chain efficiency, all of which play key roles easing and growing business operations. Definitions for traceability goals and obstacles along the path to realizing those goals, however, vary by stakeholder. Over the course of our four-part look at traceability challenges for consumers, the global supply chain, brands, and entrepreneurs, we will explore how these obstacles vary. In order to get closer to a larger solution, unique needs for each of those crucial parts of the food system must be met. |
FS6 is a nonprofit based in the San Francisco Bay Area whose mission is to support impact-driven entrepreneurs as they transform how we grow, produce, and distribute food. The organization runs a comprehensive accelerator program that mentors entrepreneurs by coaching them through a wide range of business and organizational needs. FS6 also works to educate stakeholders on the unique capital needs as it relates to redefining the food system. 
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