Certification labels have done a great job and raised a lot of awareness among consumers when it comes to social and environmental sustainability. Nevertheless, with current practices quality marks are reaching their limits. They will be the first to admit this. One problem with certification is that they only offer one standard, while every product and product chain is unique. To summarise this complex ecosystem of people, activities and processes in one binary certificate – fair, organic – is not enough. The next step lies in transparency and traceability – in connected chains and chain partners who can take their responsibility. Various certifiers, too, are looking into this. Trace is the next step. In the future, certification labels could potentially serve as a partner on the Trace platform. Fair trade or organic certifiers could act as the verifier of claims that are made within the Trace platform, be it with more transparency than current certification offers. 

The data uploaded on the Trace platform will always remain in the user’s hands and will never be used or resold by Fairfood or other parties without explicit permission.

Yes, we often see an increase in the price of traceable products by 1-12% and customers are happy to pay for it! Research shows that some 75% of consumers express demand for more product data. A similar percentage of consumers also distrusts the claims companies make about their products. We see in this a clear confirmation that creating a decentralised layer of trust with systems such as ours is a good way forward.