Traceability Costs in Agro-Industry

Abstract

More food business operators start to look into “traceability” as an essential tool to boost the confidence level in their products. A question commonly asked by those who are considering implementing a traceability system is “how much does it cost.” This research aims to estimate the investment and operating costs of traceability systems. Cost of Quality is used to exam the overall price by dividing expenses into prevention, appraisal and correction costs. This article presents results from examinations of four business establishments. Preliminarily, the average total traceability cost is approximately 0.7 million baht per year which is a small fraction compared to sales. Major contributors to the overall cost are data collecting activities, operating, training and education, and hardware & software related costs, respectively. Results from this study could be useful for business operators considering acquisition or developing of traceability system. Keywords: Traceability; Cost; Cost of Quality; PAF Model