Tracing jam back to the strawberry farm

We’ve covered several food brands that provide consumers with detailed information on the sources and background of their spinach, bananas and coffee. It’s a trend that continues to pick up steam, as witnessed by condiment maker Beerenberg’s introduction of Provenance Pathway, an online tool that lets customers trace their jam or sauce from ‘soil to shelf’. After purchasing a Beerenberg product, customers enter the item’s barcode and expiration date on the company’s website. An overview of the product appears, including photos of the people who made it, full product specifications, and an elegant implementation of Google Earth to map the farms where the main ingredients originated. Launched this month, Provenance Pathway is part of the Australian company’s recent revamp to underscore the ‘home-made’ authenticity of its brand. Despite being a major food manufacturer, Beerenberg wants to emphasize that its traditional recipes are still cooked in open steam kettles, free from artificial flavours, colours or preservatives. Now that major brands are tapping into the power of transparency to emphasize their grass-roots qualities, it will be interesting to see just what the grass-roots companies do. 😉