Frequently Asked Questions:
- Do growers need their own company prefix issued by GS1?
- May I get traceability to the case level only?
- Do I
have to label all of my produce?
- Will I keep my established distributor & retail relationships?
- Do growers need a GS1 company prefix certificate to sell produce?
- Can you market my produce without me losing my local appeal?
- Why trace to the item level?
- Can larger growers work with Top 10 Produce LLC?
- What is the difference
between Top 10 and Locale?
- What happens to my own brand?
Are
Growers required to have their own company prefix issued by GS1?
No.
The Grower uses the Brand Owner’s number and in our case the brands are Top 10 and Locale. So, unless the grower has their own brand that they want to show to
the consumer on the tracking label (whether on the case or the item), there is
no need for a grower to have their own company prefix.
May I get traceability to the case level only?
No problem. We are flexible to your needs. Smaller growers may
trace to the case only using our “Grower’s Reserve” brand case labels.
Do I
have to label all of my produce?
No,
you don’t have to label any of your produce if you don’t want to. Our
growers are free to sell as much or as little as they prefer to label under our
brands, and they are also free to sell under other brands, or their own brands
simultaneously with our brands.
Will
our growers maintain their own distributor and retail relationships?
Yes
our growers’ business will be “business as usual” in all aspects.
Do you need your own GS1 issued company prefix certificate to sell to
Wal-Mart and other large retail stores?No. You may sell under our brand and we
will provide any buyer with our GS1 issued company prefix
certificate upon request, so this is a non-issue for you if you grow with Top 10. Also, we supply every one of our growers with a globally unique GLN, as required by Wal-Mart and a few other stores.
How
will you market my produce without me losing my local appeal?
Top
10 Produce LLC unites you with other smaller growers like you into a strong,
unified, American brand dedicated to smaller local growers - "Top 10". We encourage each of our Growers to
maintain their individual identity. We know that it is your family
history, your commitment to quality, and your local appeal that makes our
company exceptional in this industry. Each grower’s identity will be
preserved to the item level for all Top 10 and Locale brand produce and you
can control the content that we present to consumers through our extended
packaging enabled by the small barcodes on the produce.
Why
do you require tracking to the item level for the Top 10 and Reserve Brands
when the Produce Traceability Initiative only specifies traceability at the
case level?
Top
10 and Locale are brands marketed to the consumer, and the consumer only sees
the item, and item level traceability creates brand value. First of all,
having item-specific labels enables our growers to sell to all retail outlets
that require item labeling when there will be a supply vacuum of item traceable
produce and our produce will command a premium. Top 10 Produce does
not plan to keep that premium; our growers earned it and we intend for them to
keep it. For Top 10 Produce LLC, business as usual means continuous
improvement to our growers’ bottom-lines. We believe that
profitability for small growers is fundamental to the creation of a sustainable
agricultural system.
What is the difference between Top 10 and Locale?
We welcome all growers, so long as they are independent growers who own or lease the land on which the produce is grown. However, the Top 10 brand is
marketed as the “small farm brand” catering to smaller local growers, so the Top 10
trademark is limited to use by small farms and we request that all produce sold
under the brand is sold locally. Larger growers who want to sell a portion of their produce locally may do so under our
“Locale” Trademark.
What happens if a grower has their own brand, that they want
to keep?
We feel terrible to say it but we did not make the rules: The brand on any item with a barcode has to be "Top 10" or "Locale" for us to comply with the legal requirements we are controlled by. The items in a case can be labeled with
the name of the farm with no problem. However the grower can only use the grower's own brand name if the labeled items are not required to have a
barcode by the buyer.