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Foodservice manufacturers launch GS1 in USA

GS1 US has announced that 55 foodservice manufacturers, distributors and operators have launched the Foodservice GS1 US Standards Initiative, and have funded the GS1 US Team for Foodservice to guide execution.

The Initiative recommends the adoption of a common timeline for voluntary individual company implementation of GS1 Global standards for company identification, item identification and product description; 45 of the Initiative’s founding member companies have already voluntarily committed to this common timeline.

Founding member companies include:

1. Avendra, LLC 19. Gordon Food Service 36. Novation, LLC 2. Ben E. Keith Foods 20. Hawkeye Foodservice Distribution, Inc. 37. Pate Dawson Company 3. BiRite Foodservice Distributors 21. Heinz North America Foodservice 38. PepsiCo Foodservice 4. Bojangles’ Restaurants, Inc. 22. Hormel Foods 39. Performance Food Group Company, LLC 5. Campbell North America Foodservice 23. Independent Marketing Alliance 40. Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation 6. Cargill 24. Indianhead Foodservice Distributor, Inc. 41. Reinhart FoodService, LLC 7. Centralized Supply Chain Services, LLC. 25. J.R. Simplot Company 42. Rema Foods 8. Coca-Cola FoodService and On-Premise 26. Kellogg Company Specialty Channels 43. Restaurant Services Inc. 9. Compass Group/Foodbuy 27. Kraft Foodservice 44. Rich Products Corporation 10. ConAgra Foods 28. Land O’Lakes, Inc. 45. Sara Lee Foodservice 11. Darden Restaurants, Inc. 29. Maines Paper & Food Service, Inc. 46. Shamrock Foods Company 12. Dot Foods, Inc. 30. MARS Foodservices US 47. Solo Cup Company 13. Ecolab Inc. 31. Martin Brothers Distributing Co., Inc. 48. Sodexo, Inc. 14. Ellenbee Leggett Company, Inc. 32. McCain Foods USA, Inc. 49. Sysco Corporation 15. Food Services of America 33. McLane Foodservice, Inc. 50. Tyson Foods, Inc. Food Service 16. General Mills, Inc. 34. Nestlé Professional 51. Unified Foodservice Purchasing Co-op, LLC 17. Genpak 35. Nicholas & Company, Inc. 52. Unilever Foodsolutions North America 18. Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products LP 53. UniPro Foodservice, Inc. 54. U.S. Foodservice 55. Ventura Foods, LLC

The Initiative is striving for 75 per cent adoption of GS1 standards throughout the foodservice industry, measured in terms of revenue, by 2015, and is endorsed by the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association (IFMA), the International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA), the National Restaurant Association, and GS1 Canada Foodservice.

Industry organizations and founding members of the Foodservice GS1 US Standards Initiative cite three main objectives and industry-wide benefits as a result of companies choosing to adopt and implement GS1 standards:

Drive waste out of the foodservice supply chain;

Improve product information for customers, and

Establish a foundation for improving food safety and traceability.

The Foodservice GS1 US Standards Initiative was formed as a result of a strategic planning process facilitated by Future Perfect Consulting Services. During the 6-month process, presidents of foodservice manufacturers, distributors and operators and their supply chain leaders worked with GS1 US, GS1 Canada and Future Perfect to draft a timeline that individual companies could choose to employ in their voluntary adoption and implementation of GS1 standards.

Founding member manufacturers and distributors agree:

“IFMA is fully supportive of voluntary adoption of GS1 standards,” Kraft North America Foodservice president and 2009 IFMA Chairman of the Board, Tom Sampson said.

“Based on Kraft’s experience implementing these standards in Canada, we know data synchronization not only drives out waste and inefficiencies, it also frees up time for manufacturers to collaborate with customers to drive growth. Voluntary adoption of these standards will also create a common foundation for improved product traceability and communication of nutritional information throughout the supply chain,” Sampson said.

“We know our customers need more accurate information,” executive vice president of Foodservice Operations, Sysco Corporation, Larry G. Pulliam said.

“In addition, our suppliers need it, our associates need it and the industry needs it as well. Through the Foodservice GS1 US Standards Initiative, involving leadership from all parts of the supply chain, we commit to adopting GS1 standards to improve food safety and traceability, take cost and complexity out of the supply chain and improve the experience for our customers.”

John Martin, CEO of Martin Brothers Distributing Co. and IFDA Chairman of the Board concurred:

“We chose GS1 standards because they’re in use by more than two million companies worldwide — it takes the guesswork out, so that we can focus on serving customers to the best of our ability. The planning process we engaged in with Future Perfect helped us gain the voluntary commitment of individual companies that we needed to independently adopt GS1 standards along a common timeline.”

Near-term steps in the Foodservice GS1 US Standards Initiative timeline include:

By Q4 2009: Companies assign GS1 Global Location Numbers to their headquarters.

By Q3 2010: Manufacturers assign GS1 Global Trade Item Numbers to products and include them on order guides and other trading partner documentation.

By Q2 2011: Manufacturers and brand owners will publish product and company identification and related logistics information to trading partners. Distributors retrieve product information; populate back end systems and customer product catalogs.

Trading partners choosing to adopt and implement GS1 standards will access standard product information through the GS1 Global Data Synchronization Network® (GDSN®), an open platform that ensures continuous real-time exchange of consistent, accurate product information among supply chain partners. Many technology providers are certified to help companies with implementation; certification is required to ensure adherence to GS1 global standards. Committed providers include widely known players in foodservice, including AFS, which announced that it will become certified for GS1 data publishing and retrieval; Aligntrac, which already is certified for GS1 data publishing and retrieval; FSE, which already is certified for data publishing and retrieval and is getting certified to become a GS1 GDSN data pool; 1SYNC, the world’s largest GDSN data pool, which also is certified for GS1 data publishing and retrieval; and iTradeNetwork, which will become certified to publish, retrieve and become a GS1 GDSN data pool. GDSN data pools are interoperable — i.e., publishing to one or retrieving data from one means that companies can retrieve data from all GDSN-certified data pools without additional fees.

The Foodservice GS1 US Standards Initiative welcomes the involvement of all foodservice manufacturers, distributors, operators, industry associations and technology providers. Please visit www.gs1us.org/foodservice for more information.

GS1 US GS1 US is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the adoption and implementation of standards-based, global supply-chain solutions. More than 200,000 businesses in 25 industries in the U.S. and two-million companies worldwide rely on GS1 US for trading-partner collaboration and for maximizing the cost effectiveness, speed, visibility, and traceability of their goods moving around the world. They achieve these benefits through GS1 US solutions based on GS1 global unique-numbering and identification systems, bar codes, Electronic Product Code-based RFID, data synchronization, and electronic information exchange. GS1 US operates the subsidiaries and brands 1SYNC™; BarCodes and eCom™; EPCglobal US™; GS1 Healthcare US; and RosettaNet. It also manages the United Nations Standard Products and Services Code (UNSPSC®) for the UNDP; www.GS1US.org.

Source: businesswire.com

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