Acknowledging that progress has been made in reaching Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI) goals over the past four years, the PTI Leadership Council has agreed that a buyer-centered implementation focus is needed to ensure continued industry movement toward case-level traceability.
The Leadership Council, representing 32 companies in the produce industry, met recently in conjunction with the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) Fresh Summit in Anaheim CA and decided to:
•Create a Buyer Working Group to expedite completion of remaining retail/foodservice implementation steps for PTI.
•Keep the PTI governance structure intact with the Leadership Council meeting twice a year and working groups utilized as needed.
•Maintain progress of supply-side PTI implementation.
•Maintain industry education and communications via the PTI website and other channels as needed.
Michael Agostini, senior director–produce, Wal-Mart Stores Inc, accepted the position of Leadership Council co-chair. Cathy Green Burns resigned from this volunteer post due to increased work commitments as president of Food Lion.
Agostini is responsible for merchandising key produce categories at Wal-Mart’s US Supercenters and Neighborhood Markets, which total more than 3,000 retail stores nationwide. He also leads Wal-Mart’s produce technology efforts, which seek to leverage technical systems to create innovative processes for Wal-Mart’s produce supply chain. With more than 39 years in the produce and grocery industry, Agostini recently served on the PMA board of directors and as chair of the PMA Supply Chain Efficiencies Committee.
The PTI, sponsored by the PMA, Canadian Produce Marketing Association, GS1 US, and United Fresh Produce Association, is designed to help the industry maximize effectiveness of traceback procedures, while developing a standardized industry approach to enhance the speed and efficiency of traceability systems for the future. The PTI’s vision outlines a course of action to achieve supply chain-wide adoption of electronic traceability of every case of produce by the year 2012.
