Deloitte’s Product Traceability and Transparency Services

Introducing the Deloitte Product Traceability and Transparency Services

The Deloitte Product Traceability and Transparency Services provide a flexible platform for growth and are designed to facilitate compliance with the US Food Safety Modernization Act section 204 (FSMA 204), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Food Traceability Rule, European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), and other regulations, as well as improve value chain transparency and operational efficiency. Across the food industry, gaps in existing processes, systems, and data, coupled with new transparency requirements (e.g., at a lot-level or geographic coordinates) could result in increased manual effort, delays in product disclosures, and inefficient operations. We aim to help our clients address these challenges by helping them design scalable processes and deploy technology-enabled services. We complement this with a broad approach towards enterprise strategy, governance, stakeholder management, and change collaboration needed to unlock greater enterprise value.

Service capabilities

Our Product Traceability and Transparency Services are both flexible and broad. It is comprised of three core offerings to help clients enhance their capabilities. Each of these offerings addresses a core challenge that food systems face currently, thus helping clients address regulatory commitments along with sustainability considerations.

Food traceability: Traceability in simple terms is the ability to follow materials from the beginning of the supply chain to the customer who purchases a product through data available in digital systems, and physical assets across the value chain partners. Traceability serves as a foundation to transition from effective linear supply chains to flexible, resilient, and highly efficient supply networks.

Effective data management is central to complying with the Food Traceability Rule and other regulations, but many companies still leverage manual processes and paper-based systems. Our food traceability services establish physical-to-digital links to assist with compliance with the FDA Food Traceability Rule, which includes stringent requirements for recordkeeping, documentation, and traceability throughout the supply chain. We focus on establishing readiness around data, process, and stakeholder management through data standardization, transactional integrity, and technology-enablement.

By establishing traceability, food organizations can transition from a "cost to comply" model to an "invest to sustain" model that mitigates enterprise risks, manages stakeholder commitments, and unlocks enterprise value.

Learn more: FSMA 204: Leveraging compliance to unlock value

Product lifecycle management: The impact of a recall is significant and far-reaching, ranging from the direct costs of customer notification, inventory write-off, and legal costs to the indirect costs of incurring brand damage and loss of company goodwill.

Deloitte’s Product Lifecycle Management (DPLM) services accelerate digital product lifecycle management transformations by offering a pre-configured, out-of-the-box software tool. Deloitte’s approach provides enhanced value chain transparency and helps businesses overcome challenges related to cost, complexity, and resource allocation. DPLM includes integrated predefined processes, a capability maturity model, and tools for efficient implementation, resulting in significant reductions in implementation timelines, costs, and data migration efforts. Additionally, DPLM enhances engineering efficiency, enforces process standardization, and supports continuous improvement through performance metrics.

Deloitte’s Data Migration Accelerator (DMA) further mitigates risks and improves productivity by enabling efficient data movement and supporting visualization and analytics.

Learn more: Product Lifecycle Management

Chemicals of Concern: Understanding what chemicals are within the products and packaging has become a central expectation of consumers, regulators, and other stakeholders in food companies. To address issues associated with Chemicals of Concern (CoC) within the value chain, Deloitte's services assess the risks associated with substances like perfluoroalkyl (PFAS), titanium dioxide, benzene, and nitrosamines, which pose potential health and environmental hazards.

Deloitte’s CoC services enable supply chain transparency and include broad risk mitigation and remediation strategies to help companies navigate evolving regulations, maintain market access, and protect consumer safety. Deloitte's approach encompasses detailed risk assessments, digital enablement, and execution management to enable compliance and sustainability.

By proactively managing CoC risks, organizations can safeguard their reputation, meet regulatory requirements effectively, and decrease potential revenue and market access losses.

Learn more: Chemicals of Concern Risk Mitigation and Remediation

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