Swedish dairy uses tracking numbers as a ‘still-made-here’ marketing tool

This is the third in a series of posts on traceability. Written by Springwise, and supported by IBM. Check out our previous posts on a registration service for product recalls and on supermarkets offering increased food traceability, or read more about building a smarter planet. _________ Skånemejerier is a relatively small diary producer based in southern Sweden. It has a long local history and was always able to operate without much competition. That changed a few years ago, when a larger, national diary producer set its eye on southern Sweden, pricing its products aggressively to capture market share. In response, Skånemejeriet is trying to revive its relationship with its customers by stressing its local roots and connections to the community. To that end, it created a web page and an iPhone app; both allow customers to enter numbers from a milk carton’s date stamp to learn about the local farmer who produced the milk. The numerical code used to relay information to consumers is the standard tracking stamp that the company already used. So for the cost of building an iPhone app and a online application, the company is able to give customers that still-made-here feeling, helping it compete with larger national brands. One to apply to your own (local) food or beverage business? Spotted by: Liobov Triufanova