Fresh and prepared produce supplier Highfields LLP has implemented the Ultimate Gold labelling system supplied by Episys, the global information technology company.

Highfields made the move to help the company comply with food safety regulations and ensure its labelling reflects its stance on food quality, safety and traceability.

It decided to implement Ultimate Gold from Episys following a change in the focus of its business, moving into providing its goods packaged for retailers, where before a lot of its product had been supplied in bulk for processing, where labelling wasn’t required.

Robert Highfield, operations manager at Highfields, said: “On the retail side we pack into a number formats for different retailers, all of whom have individual labelling requirements. As we have greatly expanded our core range and are packing fresh produce from different origins, it’s vital that we comply with regulations and have full traceability. Our labelling assists us in identifying where the produce has come from, and its ultimate destination and Ultimate Gold allow us to do this.”

“Once we moved into the retail and food service arena, we were then required to have a comprehensive labelling package, and one of the primary drivers for this is the short lead time that we operate to,” he added. “This means that the labels need to be easy to design and produce, and the system had to be flexible enough to allow us to make changes at short notice, for example the date codes and sell-by dates. Barcodes need to be developed too.”

Highfields reports the training requirements are “minimal”, a key factor for the company which uses workers who speak a variety of languages.

Peter Lewis, Episys marketing director, said: “At a time when food safety and traceability is high on the consumers agenda, its business critical for companies like Highfields to be able to demonstrate that it has solutions in place to act quickly in case of an emergency.”