Wish farms: financing Firetag

Abstract

FireTag Laser Marking Technology was a revolutionary approach to the problem of ensuring that produce could be traced back to its point of origin. The system, which combined information technology, robotics, and a high powered laser, made it possible to burn identifying bar codes on to specially treated boxes. Using this technology, a pallet holding dozens of boxes of freshly picked fruits of vegetables could be marked to identify both the crop and when/where it was picked in well under a minute. In the event that a problem—such as an E. coli outbreak—was subsequently detected, it would then become possible to localize the original source of the contamination at a degree of specificity that had never before been possible. Such detailed labeling of point of origin would soon become virtually mandatory as a consequence of the Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI) that was being championed by the Produce Marketing Association and other industry groups.