FruitRoute: Now, a QR Code to trace the origin of a fruit

Integrated fruit company, INI Farms has introduced an origin traceability feature for all its fruits in the international and domestic market under the technology program called “FruitRoute”.

Every fruit under its brand Kimaye can now be traced back to its source by scanning the dynamic QR code on it. Consumers can scan with their smartphones, allowing them to track the product from farm to table, the company said in a press statement on Thursday.

From farm to table

The statement said that the feature provides farmer-level traceability to the end-consumer, enabling them to know where and who has grown the fruit. The feature will provide footprint data of the journey of each fruit from pre-harvest to market shelf.

This feature is currently available for pomegranates, arils and coconut. Bananas will carry the QR Code on the fruit from December onwards. The traceability feature also creates operational efficiency by reaching the source of any problem within two hours, the statement said.

The Chairman and Managing Director of INI Farms, Pankaj Khandelwal, said in the statement that consumers have become more conscious about food safety, hygienic handling, and use of sustainable farming methods such as drip irrigation. The traceability feature is the transparent mechanism to share sustainable and ethical agriculture practices of our farmers, he said.

Khandelwal added that enabling consumers and distribution partners to view the journey of the fruits adds to the assurance of quality and safety that is the core promise of Kimaye.

The company operates large scale farm-level operations, managing and controlling the process right from growing to supplying the fruit across the world, and in the domestic markets directly to retailers. The company ensures that its farmers meet the most stringent global environmental and health norms by following global Good Agricultural Practices and saving millions of litres of water by having 100 per cent of plantations with drip irrigation systems, the statement added.