Scroll Down For Answers to these Frequently Asked Questions:
- Are
Growers required to have 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
our growers maintain their own distributor and retail relationships?
- Do you need your own GS1 company prefix certificate to sell produce to
Wal-Mart and other large retail stores?
- What
is the Reserve Brand?
- How
will you market my produce without me losing my local appeal?
- 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?
- I
am a large grower feeling like the PTI is taking a pound of flesh out of my
business. Can I work with Top 10 Produce LLC to implement a
cost-effective traceability program?
- Does
Top 10 Produce LLC make any money from the sale of labels?
- What happens if a grower has their own brand, that they want
to keep?
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 brand is Top
10. 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 our
larger growers may trace to the case only by using our brand called “Locale”.
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 a brand. There was information circulating this false rumor
online, though the actual source of these false rumor is unknown,
it appears to us that it stems from Wal-Mart’s preference for suppliers utilizing
something called “1Sync”, but who knows for sure. We will not subscribe to 1SYNC until requested
by our grower’s buyers (because it is expensive) but we have the luxury of that
option. This is because we label to the item level and our gs1 issued
company prefix on our items matches our company prefix on our cases. We
will provide Wal-Mart or any other buyer with our GS1 issued company prefix
certificate, so this is a non-issue for you if you grow with Top 10. Also, if you need a GLN, as required by Wal-Mart let us know so that we can assign a GLN to you as a supplier and so we can get set up with 1-Sync or another data pool that is acceptable to Wal-Mart and others. Most of our small suppliers are not selling to Wal-Mart so there has been no reason for us to spend the money on a data pool yet. However, it seems inevitable that we will have to so don't hesitate to ask and to tell us which data pool you prefer for us to join.
What
is the Reserve Brand?
Reserve
is our top label and is saved for the truly exceptional. Growers select
their own Reserve, if any, from each harvest, never to exceed 25% of any label order.
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 Reserve 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 Reserve 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.
I
am a large grower feeling like the PTI is taking a pound of flesh out of my
business. May I work with Top 10 Produce LLC to implement a
cost-effective traceability program?
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 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 may sell under our
“Locale” Trademark, which is traceable to the case, but has the flexibility of
traceability to the item level also.
Does
Top 10 Produce LLC make any money from the sale of labels?
No, Top 10 Produce makes no money from the
sale of any labels. This is a very important point because the fact that
we take no money from the sale of Top 10 and Reserve labels means there is no
issue with a grower choosing to order no labels in a given season.
However, Top 10 does receive a per label license fee for any grower using the “Locale” Trademark and this fee is incorporated into the price of the Locale label to keep things simple.
What happens if a grower has their own brand, that they want
to keep?
The items in a case can be labeled with
the grower's own brand, so long as those items are not required to have a
barcode by the buyer. This still is 100% in compliance with the Produce
Traceability Initiative, which only goes to the case level. However, if
the grower needs barcodes on their items because their buyers require item
barcodes, then they would need to use the Top 10 brand on the item, and the
grower would be identified 1) by the grower number 2) when the consumer scanned
the item with a cell phone and 3) when the consumer put the grower's number
into our direct-to-consumer website. Once the local community "has a
grower's number" (so to speak) the Grower's personal
brand will be every bit as powerful as it ever was because the consumer
knows exactly who or what farm grew that produce.
The other alternative is the grower can sign up directly
with gs1 and if you want to do so, just click the link on the bottom left
of our "Produce Traceability" page here and then click on the "consultant" link on
that page to be taken directly to the rest of their website. They will
fill you in on all of the pricing details and other issues that you will need
to consider and address in your program implementation.