During the 2020-2021 season, Reid Fruits partnered with Source Certain to help Reid Fruits verify the provenance of their branded cherries in export markets.
Reid Fruits became the first Australian horticultural exporter to combine Source Certain’s provenance verification technology with Laava Smart Fingerprint (https://laava.id/) scannable technology, and e-Commerce and digital marketing company RooLife Group’s (https://roolifegroup.com.au/) consumer engagement and social commerce platform.
The Details
Source Certain collected samples of all Reid Fruits cherry varieties from each of the three Reid Fruits orchards. Source Certain was able to confidently distinguish between fruit originating from the three different production sites using our scientific provenance verification technology, TSW Trace®. Our scientists also completed analysis of samples collected from a number of different retail locations to verify that they have come from the three RF production sites.
What kind of challenges was RF facing that encouraged them to engage with SC?
The Reid Fruits brand for premium Tasmanian cherries is well known in export markets. For a number of years the company experienced issues with bad actors trying to capitalise on both their brand and the premium prices it attracts in the marketplace. Past counterfeit attempts have employed increasingly sophisticated methods to copy Reid Fruits’ branded packaging and substitute their product with lower-quality cherries from other countries.
Tony Coad Manager, Marketing and Sales Reid Fruits
Outcomes
What were some of the outcomes that Reid Fruits was looking for?
Reid Fruits was looking at options to add another layer of protection to its brand and product. Source Certain’s forensic provenance testing offered Reid Fruits the ability to identify cherries grown on its company orchards in Tasmania and if necessary, scientifically prove that cherries in suspected counterfeit packaging claiming to be of the Reid Fruits brand are not genuine.
We are now in the second year of our program with Source Certain and our experience with the Source Certain team and program has been great. Source Certain have worked closely with us and been very flexible on developing and organising the sampling schedule which has not had any impact on our normal daily operations at all. The sampling analysis reports were fascinating for us and easy to follow in clearly being able to identify and verify the provenance of cherries to the orchard of origin.
Tony Coad
Manager, Marketing and Sales
Reid Fruits
Benefits from Program
- The implementation of this technology gives Reid Fruits the ability to scientifically verify the provenance and authenticity of their branded cherries in overseas markets.
- Reduces risk of substitution and increases Reid Fruits’ ability to accurately identify potential substitutions to an empirical standard.
- Offers scientific evidence in counterfeit investigations.
Approximately 13kg of cherries has come through the Source Certain lab over the last two seasons.
We’ve had really good engagement from senior management and all the growers too. They care passionately about their produce and protecting the value of their Tasmanian grown fruit.
Cameron Scadding, Source Certain CEO
Once a program kicks off, it’s fast-moving. Our sample collectors are in and out of the orchards very quickly and once the cherries hit the lab the analytical part can be completed within a couple of days.
Jenna Valentin, Source Certain Head of Operations AU
Reid Fruits partnered with Source Certain to help us verify the provenance of our premium Tasmanian cherries in export markets. With cherry samples taken from orchards they were able to confidently distinguish between fruit originating from our three different production sites and then through analysis of samples from different market locations were able to verify these had come from our orchards. We have really enjoyed working with the professional team at Source Certain and the implementation of this technology gives us the ability to scientifically verify the provenance and authenticity of Reid Fruits branded cherries in our overseas markets.
Tony Coad, Reid Fruits Manager Marketing and Sales
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