Devised by Gloucestershire farmers, Happerly Passports will invite every UK primary food producer to create a free Producer Passport and profile and invite all intermediaries and retailers whom they trade with into a visible supply chain to create one network.
Producers are then able to generate a unique traceability code online for every food batch leaving their holding. The codes are validated through the food chain by participating intermediaries and retailers.
Matthew Rymer, co-founder of Happerly Passports, said: “Fifteen years after Foot and Mouth, the British farmer and consumer continues to be sold short by food processors, manufacturers and retailers working together to disguise and mislead on provenance and collectively collude in driving down farmgate prices.
“Producer margins are now squeezed to the point where we see most sectors losing money in the face of anonymous meat and dairy imports.
“Meanwhile, report after report underlines that the consumer wants to support a sustainable farming industry and to know the truth about the food they eat but are blind sided by mislabelling and half truths, playing on the support there is for our farm industry, to sustain national retail and processor margins.”
The idea was conceived to provide the full story of the provenance behind each cut of Pedigree Gloucester Beef they sold, however following a significant investment the scheme has widened across the food industry.