Challenge
Some 500 fish harvester-members deliver artisanal catches to the co-op’s plant which processes, freezes and boxes the product for export to the U.S. and Asia. Tracing each box back to its harvesters and fishing zones was almost impossible, given the need to mix the small catches into larger batches for efficient processing.
Each box would be hand-labelled. A complex handwritten ledger was maintained to track incoming boxes and outgoing shipments. Conducting inventory checks was time consuming and error prone as each box needed to be manually counted.
With undersized lobster being illegally traded by some exporters, the co-op needed to strengthen its own traceability to prove its commitment to sustainability and improve its reporting to government.
Solution
The co-op, in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, introduced Tally to enable a granular level of traceability that was impossible with hand-written labels and paper ledgers.
Catches are now digitally tracked into holding tanks and production lots. The products are then boxed and QR coded, which are then placed into master cases and labelled with another traceable QR code.
A Tally dashboard enables a real-time view into the co-op’s cold storage inventory. Boxes are eventually scanned out into shipping containers for export. The co-op can now trace each inner box back to its harvesters, fishing zone and catch method.
Tally enables the co-op to easily provide digital reports on all its catches to the government, facilitating improved fisheries management. Impressed with their commitment, the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries publicly congratulated the co-op on their pioneering efforts for the fisheries sector in Belize.
