Building Trust with Grass-to-Glass Traceability

In the dairy and infant nutrition sector, consumer trust depends on verifiable product provenance. FRISO, an enterprise-scale food and beverage producer, faced growing pressure to provide transparent, end-to-end traceability from farm to consumer — what the industry calls 'grass-to-glass.' Without a robust system, the company could not easily respond to product inquiries, substantiate quality claims, or differentiate itself in markets where ingredient sourcing and safety are paramount purchase drivers. The absence of accessible journey data risked eroding consumer confidence and limiting market reach, particularly in regions with heightened regulatory and consumer scrutiny around infant formula and dairy products.

FRISO implemented the TrackEasy smart packaging solution, built on the Kezzler Connected Products Platform, to assign unique digital identities to individual product units. Each package receives a serialized code that captures the full production journey — farm origin, processing steps, quality checks, and distribution milestones. This was integrated with Rockwell Automation's FactoryTalk PharmaSuite serialization application, which manages the manufacturing execution and serialization logic within the production environment. The combined system links physical packaging to a cloud-based data layer, enabling consumers to scan a code and retrieve verified product history in real time. Deployment was designed for global rollout, connecting production facilities across geographies into a unified traceability infrastructure.

The implementation delivered global availability of product traceability data, allowing consumers in any market to access the full journey of a FRISO product at point of consumption. Key outcomes include:

• Increased consumer trust and brand loyalty, with transparent sourcing information accessible via smart packaging
• Increased sales, attributed to differentiated trust credentials in competitive markets where ingredient provenance influences purchasing decisions
• Global reach, with the serialization infrastructure scalable across international production and distribution networks

While specific volume or revenue figures were not disclosed, the program positioned FRISO to respond proactively to consumer inquiries and regulatory requirements without manual intervention.

• Serialization at the unit level — not just the batch — is the foundation of credible grass-to-glass traceability; anything coarser leaves gaps consumers and regulators will notice.
• Integrating a connected products platform with existing MES serialization software (such as FactoryTalk PharmaSuite) reduces custom development and accelerates deployment across multiple facilities.
• Smart packaging traceability works best when the consumer-facing experience is frictionless — a simple scan should surface clear, trusted information without requiring app downloads or registration.
• Traceability infrastructure built for compliance can double as a brand differentiation asset, particularly in sensitive categories like infant nutrition where provenance directly influences purchase decisions.