Sway Design and our programming partner GreenRiver.org recently worked with Scientific Certification Systems (SCS), a leading third-party provider of food certification auditing and testing services, to create two bi-lingual Web tools called the C.A.F.E. Practices Verifier Reporting System and the SCS Supplier Resource Tool. These online tools provide a data infrastructure that both supports and validates the work that food inspectors do in the field and brings transparency and accountability to participants in the food supply chain by allowing farmers around the world track the certifications of their crops.

The C.A.F.E. Practices Verifier Reporting System we created for SCS’s client, Starbucks, makes it easier for coffee farmers to get their crops certified and approved within Starbucks’ C.A.F.E. Practices system. C.A.F.E. Practices ensures that Starbucks sources sustainably grown and processed coffee by evaluating the economic, social and environmental aspects of coffee production against a defined set of criteria. The evaluation of coffee farmers and suppliers against the C.A.F.E. Practices criteria is conducted by approved third-party verifiers overseen by SCS. These farmers, processors and suppliers form the coffee production supply chain.

Prior to the creation of the C.A.F.E. Practices Verifier Reporting System, Starbuck’s Agronomy office manually organized the supply chain using paper records and Excel spreadsheets. Verifiers in Africa and South America would inspect a farm and create a farm report that was sent to the Agronomy office in Costa Rica, which then reviewed it and sent it on to Seattle where Starbucks is managed. The reporting process also had to be overseen by third-party managers at SCS in Oakland to ensure that local coffee inspectors were adhering to the C.A.F.E. Practices criteria.

Our job was to simplify the workflow by creating a centralized, online location where each participant in the supply chain could come to upload information and view the overall status of a farm’s certification. The tool we created works across a wide range of browsers and internet connections and includes a downloadable application that allows inspectors to record data about a farm in the field and then sync up with the database once they return to their offices. With this faster supply chain workflow, local farmers can now get faster certification of their crops which ultimately allows Starbucks to incorporate more certified coffee into their products.

ADDING TRANSPARENCY TO THE CERTIFICATION PROCESS
A further goal for these two online tools is adding notoriety and transparency to the food certification process. When we redesigned the Food and Agriculture portion of SCS’s web site, we created an online database called the Supplier Resource Tool. This tool gives farmers a customizable page on the SCS site that shows a complete history of their farm’s commodity certifications, including those purchased from vendors other than SCS. Food purchasers can use the SCS web site to search for farms that offer fruits or vegetables that have been certified and then contact the farms directly to initiate purchases. By giving farmers an online presence where their clients can review their certifications, we’ve given them an added incentive to deepen their commitment to the organic certification process.

Links

Starbucks project
Grower Resource Tool
SCS Grower

About the Author:

Ellis Neder (USA)
Sway Design
info@swaydesign.com