PM Beef Installs Digital Angel Corp.'s Livestock Scanner To Enhance Trace Ability
MINNEAPOLIS - PM Beef has selected Digital Angel Corp. and IMI, Platte City, Mo., as a new information alliance partner to capture data from proprietary RFID and software products for use on cow/calf farms, feedlots, and PM's harvest and fabrication facility in Windom, Minn.
PM Beef, headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., was a pioneer in the gate-to-plate approach to beef production and marketing in the early 1990s, resulting in a premium signature beef line with upscale retailers like Ukrops Supermarkets and Heinen's Fine Foods of Cleveland, Ohio.
"Because we monitor many critical aspects of the beef production process through delivery to the store, we needed to automate and simplify the data collection process," noted Leann Saunders, PM's v.p. of marketing and communications.
"Many of the suppliers to our Ranch to Retail branded beef program utilize Digital Angel's electronic identification so it was a logical choice to adopt its scanner technology," Saunders added.
"These tools enable us to capture critical data that flows into our web based Process Improvement Database, that enables producers and our certified feedlots to view individual animal data, charts and exception reports in real-time manner simply by connecting to the Internet," Saunders said.
"The improved and simplified data collection process and resulting reporting enables continuous improvement and also provides added verification and trace ability for our unique products and ultimately the consumer", Saunders said. The combination of the information tools will help producers meet Country of Origin Labeling requirements in addition to USDA's Source and Process Verified certification, she added.
PM Beef, headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., was a pioneer in the gate-to-plate approach to beef production and marketing in the early 1990s, resulting in a premium signature beef line with upscale retailers like Ukrops Supermarkets and Heinen's Fine Foods of Cleveland, Ohio.
"Because we monitor many critical aspects of the beef production process through delivery to the store, we needed to automate and simplify the data collection process," noted Leann Saunders, PM's v.p. of marketing and communications.
"Many of the suppliers to our Ranch to Retail branded beef program utilize Digital Angel's electronic identification so it was a logical choice to adopt its scanner technology," Saunders added.
"These tools enable us to capture critical data that flows into our web based Process Improvement Database, that enables producers and our certified feedlots to view individual animal data, charts and exception reports in real-time manner simply by connecting to the Internet," Saunders said.
"The improved and simplified data collection process and resulting reporting enables continuous improvement and also provides added verification and trace ability for our unique products and ultimately the consumer", Saunders said. The combination of the information tools will help producers meet Country of Origin Labeling requirements in addition to USDA's Source and Process Verified certification, she added.