Under their newly minted partnership agreement, Australia’s peak body for the food and beverage manufacturing industry will work with GS1 Australia to improve the nation’s management of food and beverage supply-chain data.
GS1 Australia is the local arm of global supply-chain standards organisation GS1, which develops and maintains standards and tools for supply-chain data management worldwide. Best known for the ubiquitous barcode, identified by the BBC as one of “the 50 things that made the world economy”, the not-for-profit organisation sets standards for traceability, digital trade capability and supply chain master data across 25 sectors including food and beverage.
The resulting standards improve the efficiency, safety and visibility of supply chains across physical and digital channels, and are crucial to manufacturers working in a global trade environment.
Under the agreement, the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) and GS1 Australia will develop and implement a plan to foster collaborative engagement and work programs ‘that deliver value for the whole industry’. The new partnership will help both organisations improve the overall efficiency of Australia’s food and grocery sector, contends AFGC CEO Tanya Barden.
“As the Australian food and grocery sector faces increasing challenges around profitability, trading [and] end-to-end traceability requirements, and seeks to access benefits around cost efficiencies and automation, GS1 standards enable the Australian food and grocery sector to more effectively address challenges and realise benefits,” she says.
According to GS1 Executive Director and CEO Maria Palazzolo, the partnership with the AFGC builds on a solid existing relationship.
“Our two organisations have enjoyed a strong alliance for many years, partnering in the rollout of various supply-chain initiatives that have benefited our joint membership and the food and grocery sector as a whole,” she says. “The formalisation of this partnership will allow us to work even closer to meet the growing challenges of an ever-changing sector, consumer expectations, retailer needs and new ways of working as companies undergo their digital transformation.”
Further information
For more information on the partnership, contact Peter Trute, AFGC Communications Manager, on peter.trute@afgc.org.au or 0410 271 826; or Richard Jones, GS1 Chief Marketing Officer, on richard.jones@gs1au.org or 0419 536 419.
Source: Perfect partnership for the food and grocery industry of the future I GS1 media release