Provenir, Ceres join forces to track journey of beef from paddock to plate

Is it local? What are the food miles? Was the animal treated humanely? What was the carbon footprint of the animal?

From the farmer and retailer's perspective, the question arises: Do consumers value a particular product more if all of these things could be digitally demonstrated and proven at the point of purchase?

It was these questions sparked the partnership between two innovative Australian primary industries companies - Ceres Tag from Queensland and Provenir from Victoria.

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Ceres Tag is an Australian company which has created the world's first direct-to-satellite monitoring of livestock. It uses a cost-effective solar-powered GPS ear tag, exporting to more than 30 countries.

Provenir started in 2017 as a company which has designed and operated Australia's first mobile on-farm abattoir across NSW and Victoria.

Provenir beef has been added to the menus of fine dining restaurants owned by some of Australia's best known restaurateurs including Neil Perry, of Rockpool, and Mark LaBrooy, Three Blue Ducks.

Ceres Tag was created by Brisbane husband and wife team David and Melita Smith in collaboration with CSIRO.

The synergy and their attraction for collaboration was founded in the importance both companies place on provenance - proving the origin and journey of food from farm to plate.

The movement towards a digital economy and the ability to track and monitor, in real time, the welfare of an animal underpinned the innovation of Ceres Tag and allows them to provide the data and evidence to support their provenance case.

Through a new ingenious superior traceability capability in combination with partner software, Ceres Tag is able to offer a Ceres Authenticated mark that can be scanned with the life and location of the animal available on a mobile phone.

A Ceres Tag-Provenir on-farm trial is underway, with the tagging of the first eight Angus steers on Willowmavin farm, in Benella, Victoria, using this process.

Using Mapipedia software, it will provide data on the condition and location of the tagged animals on multiple occasions during each day.

If the animal escapes from a paddock, or worse still is stolen, the Ceres Tag technology will alert the producer through the Mapipedia software and the producer can simply text the link to the police to find the animals - and the thieves.

"The purpose of this trial is to demonstrate the incremental increase in value of a commercial animal at each stage of the supply chain, to monitor biosecurity, provenance and welfare," said Ceres Tag co-founder David Smith.

"And when it comes to the end product, it makes for great choices for shoppers for premium product based on the information now available directly to consumers. "Transparency and the ability for producers to be able to demonstrate and share their sustainable practices for the animal and for the earth is something that we believe is on the rise and can provide a point of difference for producers willing to join us on this new journey."

Provenir has quickly proven the benefit of its low stress processing for animals.

"We know that by removing the need to transport cattle to an abattoir - and instead taking the abattoir to the cattle - transport stress is greatly reduced if not eliminated. This directly leads to higher welfare and improved meat quality outcomes," said Provenir co-founder and chief executive officer Chris Balazs.

"We take great pride in our on-farm processing, that not only reduces the impact on the environment whilst supplying a culinary delight like no other. Now with Ceres Authenticate, consumers don't just have to take our word for it, we will have the proof in the data.

"This technology will provide industry leading levels of transparency and integrity, arising from the combination of using Ceres Tag for on farm data, that will link into Provenir's provenance platform Tractracker, that provides post farm traceability."

Both men believe that by building provenance and storytelling around their products, primary producers can play an important role in sustaining, increasing or expanding market share for Australian products both domestically and globally.

"It is no longer just relevant for niche or boutique product offerings and is now a mainstream marketing approach for supermarkets and well-known clothing chains. It is also an evolving trend not just confined to international markets and consumers," said Mr Smith.

"Provenance is key to improving connectivity with Australian consumers who want to understand the who, the where and the how behind their food and we believe this trial can lay a great foundation for proving what we have known since inception," said Mr Balazs.