Where does the fish on the menu come from, the papaya from the fruit department or the meat from the wholesale trade? To enable customers to check the traceability of food, METRO has developed the PRO TRACE app, which provides comprehensive information on selected products.
What’s it all about?
- What does food traceability mean?
- How does the PRO TRACE app work?
- Traceability of meat and fish with the PRO TRACE app
What does food traceability mean?
More and more people want to know where their food comes from. For example, according to the 2022 Nutrition Report by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, 61% of respondents looked for animal welfare labels and 55% for sustainable fishing seals when making a purchase. Furthermore, 83% prefer regional products. Providers give their customers detailed information on particular products by offering the option of traceability. This means they inform their customers about all stages of production, processing and distribution of the selected product. Furthermore, traceability is a mandatory stipulation set out in the 2005 Basic Regulations for Food (an EU regulation) for all companies in the food retail chain.
How does the PRO TRACE app work?
To create transparency for their customers along the entire value chain, METRO has developed the PRO TRACE app , which provides important product information. The app lists the resources used, indicates where the product originally comes from and/or which processing steps the product has passed through. This enables customers to trace the path of their product from origin to market.
But how does traceability work in practice with the PRO TRACE app? After downloading the PRO TRACE app from the app store and installing it, customers can scan the product code with their smartphone and the app immediately provides all available information about the product. The product code is found on the packaging or, for fresh produce, on the label that the customer generates when weighing the product.
Traceability of meat and fish with the PRO TRACE app
Traceability is particularly relevant for the meat and fish product groups. With fish, users of the PRO TRACE app get information on the fishing ground, fishing method, fishing season, ship name, landing port and the date of production. Through traceability, METRO not only creates transparency but also promotes the security of fish stocks and supports the fight against illegal fishing. If customers buy a product from the meat assortment, the PRO TRACE app indicates the region the animal comes from, where it was slaughtered and where it was cut.
👉 The METRO app offers numerous services and functions for an improved shopping experience. From the digital customer card and exclusive offers to a Scan & Go function and the management of purchasing authorisations.