Food traceability is becoming an increasingly important issue for Comvita, says Brett Hewlett, chief executive of the Bay of Plenty-based honey and health products company.
"Food traceability is a key consideration in global markets and Asia in particular," said Mr Hewlett.
The increased focus had been driven by Comvita's acquisition of additional honey sources. Now the company has six apiary businesses and about 30,000 hives - up from 20,000 hives last year - Comvita had taken traceability to a new level, he said.
Comvita assembled a professional team to build and implement a proprietary supply chain integrative system that it has called the Apiary Management System (AMS).
This system allowed full, digital traceability of honey back to individual hives and facilitated optimal hive management practices.