Trustwell Releases 2023 State of Traceability Report: Insights from Industry Thought Leaders on Adoption, Progress, and Future Vision

In its latest research, Trustwell explores how regulatory changes, consumer demands, supply chain struggles, and other external factors have impacted traceability efforts across the global food supply chain.

SALEM, ORE. MARCH 21, 2023—Trustwell has published its latest research into traceability efforts across the global food supply chain with the release of the Trustwell 2023 State of Traceability Report. The research offers a detailed dive into the traceability challenges and successes facing food businesses in 2023 and beyond, what external factors are driving adoption, how the industry is adapting to increased regulations, as well as thoughts and advice from leaders in the industry.

The report includes a survey of nearly 200 food industry professionals, which revealed a wide range of preparedness for the pending regulations. Just over one-third of businesses surveyed are well prepared to comply with Section 204 of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA 204), the Food Traceability Rule finalized by the FDA in November 2022. Approximately 9 percent of respondents were not aware of FSMA 204 at all.

According to the survey, over 30 percent of companies reported being very equipped to update their existing policies to comply with FSMA 204. Yet, 25 percent of companies reported feeling mostly unprepared to implement those policies by the January 2026 compliance deadline.

“Our State of Traceability Report offers a birds-eye view of traceability efforts across the food supply chain,” shared Katy Jones, Chief Marketing Officer at Trustwell. “A lot has changed since our last report released in 2019. As our 2023 report shows, traceability has become more important than ever for food businesses: even essential for their alignment to the FDA’s New Era of Smarter Food Safety. We hope this report will serve as a catalyst to get more food businesses aimed at FSMA 204 compliance, system interoperability, and creating a more transparent food supply chain for everyone.”

The food industry, and the supply chain as a whole, have seen monumental challenges in the past few years. While this research report aims to highlight some of those challenges – including major recalls, delays, and shortages, to the passing of stringent food traceability laws – the report also serves as a primer for how companies can embrace traceability efforts in 2023 and beyond.

Inside the report, industry leaders provide their point of view on how companies can adapt, including tips on how to build a successful track and trace effort that is flexible with changing regulations and takes into account the massive amounts of data companies will need to track. Interoperability is also a focus; as more companies join whole-chain traceability efforts using various SaaS solutions, they will need to ensure their systems can communicate with others up and down the supply chain.

FoodLogiQ, which recently merged with ESHA Research to form Trustwell, brings nearly 20 years of experience in implementing traceability programs. The company participated in the first round of FDA traceability pilots, helped test industry interoperability to demonstrate connectivity leveraging industry standards, contributed public comment to the FDA public meetings to discuss the FSMA proposed rule and boasts a traceability platform containing over 150 million critical tracking events.  The product was also recently featured in the webinar FDA’s Food Traceability Rule: Everything You Need to Know hosted by the National Restaurant Association.

The report can be downloaded for free on the FoodLogiQ website: 2023 State of Traceability Report. For questions, comments, or inquiries, contact the Trustwell team.

About Trustwell

Trustwell is on a mission to change the food industry. From food and supplement manufacturers to retail grocers and restaurant chains, food companies around the world use Trustwell software as their trusted source for compliance and quality solutions in the food industry. For more information, visit trustwell.com.