Cargill expands traceable turkey program for the holidays
According to the Star Tribune, Cargill is expanding its traceable turkey program this holiday season, enabling more consumers to know the name of the farmer who raised their Thanksgiving bird.
According to the Star Tribune, Cargill is expanding its traceable turkey program this holiday season, enabling more consumers to know the name of the farmer who raised their Thanksgiving bird. The company tested the program in Texas last year with its Honeysuckle White brand. Consumers responded so favorably the company decided to nearly quadruple the number of traceable birds available in stores this November and December.
The company spent the last year growing its network of farms in the program from four to 70 independent turkey operators in Texas and Missouri. That raised the number of traceable turkeys in the marketplace from 60,000 to 200,000 at thousands of U.S. retailers. Cargill plans to sell them only during the winter holiday season, but said it is considering other key sales days during the year.
The tracing is made possible through blockchain technology that allows multiple users to add information to a “digital ledger” that is shared across a network of computers. The turkeys have coded packaging that a shopper can enter in a text message or on the company’s website and then immediately receive the location of the farm, the name of the farmer or family, images, and any other information the producer wants to share.