Clarity® Software
Support your brand’s transformation with the number one enterprise-level software of its kind, with applications customized for stores, distribution centers, and factories.
Food Industry Challenges
RFID is increasingly essential for food industry supply chain management, particularly when it comes to freshness and perishability. SML’s Clarity® Food solutions enables you to track products by their date and location of origin, letting you achieve automated FEFO—First Expired, First Out inventory management as well as reducing both risk and waste in the case of food recalls.
Inventory management is an ongoing challenge for food retailers. Inaccurate inventory leads to dissatisfied customers as well as significant food waste, with grocery stores and restaurants throwing away billions of pounds of food annually, simply because it is not fresh enough.
Food companies are also responsible for recalling unsafe goods to prevent contamination of the food chain. SML’s traceability solutions can minimize the need to throw away entire batches of food by allowing you to trace products at the pallets, case, and tray level. In addition, today’s food customers (now including BOPIS and eCommerce consumers) are more interested than ever in how their food is produced, what’s in their food, and where exactly it came from — further driving the need for greater food supply chain transparency.
Food Safety Issues by the Numbers:
600 Million
people fall ill every year after consuming contaminated food
1.74 Million
pounds of food recalled in 2022 in the U.S. territory
$10 Million
is the cost of a single recall
Food Waste by the Numbers:
1.3 Billion
tons of food is wasted each year; estimated value is $1 trillion
43%
of food waste happens at the supply chain level, equivalent to $300 billion
10%
of global GHG emissions are caused by wasted food
Find Your Food Supply Chain Solution
With deep experience in retail and a strong foothold in the food industry, SML offers comprehensive RFID solutions that address the challenges food retailers are facing, helping to ensure food safety, increase efficiency, reduce waste, and enhance the consumer experience.
Key Benefits of RFID Adoption in Food Supply Chain
Enhances Recall Precision
Minimizes losses, reducing costly recalls
Compliance Simplification
Reduces fines, legal, and administrative costs
Regulatory Adherence
Prevents penalties, safeguarding resources and reputation
Supply Chain Efficiency
Cuts logistics costs and increases Opex savings
Inventory Optimization
Cuts food waste, maximizing profit margins
Swift Issue Resolution
Minimizes disruptions, preventing revenue loss
Data-driven Insights
Improves resource allocation, boosting profitability
Competitive Advantage
Attracts customers, driving growth
Real-Time Monitoring
Prevents food spoilage, preserving value and revenue
SML Clarity® Food RFID technology solves all of these food regulatory mandates:
Find Your Food Supply Chain Solution
Improved food supply chain management and transparency, on-shelf monitoring, and faster checkout — all empowered by RFID — are part of the new reality in today’s food industry.
Complete Your RFID Transformation
Frequently Asked Questions
Can RFID be used in the food industry?
Yes, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) can be used in the food industry. In fact, RFID offers food retailers several benefits, including precision tracking of products, enabling more efficient supply chain management, reducing waste and allowing for accurate compliance during food recalls, improving customer experience by having products on hand, and more. Learn more about Clarity® Food or Contact our SML experts to find the right solution for your needs.
Do grocery stores use RFID?
RFID has been used in the food supply chain for many years, and now that the cost of the technology has become more economical, grocery stores are using RFID throughout the store and warehouse. Using RFID in grocery stores can help keep track of expiration dates, stock levels, comply with food recalls, and more. Clarity® Food offers these and other benefits. Learn more.
How can foodservice operations use RFID?
Here are some ways the foodservice industry can benefit from using RFID solutions for food retailers:
Inventory management: Foodservice operations can use RFID to track their inventory, ensuring freshness, accuracy, and availability of products.
Food safety and traceability: Foodservice operations can use RFID to track the origin, expiration date, and movement of every product in their supply chain. This can help them ensure food safety and quality, comply with food regulations and recalls, and provide customers with accurate and detailed information about their food purchases.
Customer experience: Foodservice operations can also use RFID solutions to enhance the customer experience by offering faster checkout, self-service options, loyalty programs, personalized offers, and more. RFID Food can also help foodservice operations collect customer feedback and preferences, and use them to improve their service and offerings.
These are some possible ways that foodservice operations can use RFID technology. However, there may be more applications and benefits that are not covered here. If you want to learn more about how RFID solutions can help your foodservice operation, visit our Clarity® Food product page or contact an SML RFID expert.
