SmartTrace food traceability software for small food producers
Know every ingredient in every batch, and every customer who got one. Scan deliveries in, make batches from your recipes, dispatch to customers and trace any lot or batch in seconds when someone asks.
What is SmartTrace?
SmartTrace is traceability software made for small food producers. You record what arrives with the supplier’s lot number, what you make from it and who you sent it to. Because every record is linked to the one before it, you can trace any batch forwards to your customers or backwards to your suppliers in seconds.
Paper records work until the day someone rings. A supplier recalls a lot of flour, an inspector asks which customers got Tuesday’s batch, or a customer says a jar tasted off. With a diary and a box of delivery dockets the answer takes an evening at the kitchen table. SmartTrace records the same things you record now, just once, and puts the whole answer together for you.
Traceability software has mostly been built for factories and priced like it. SmartTrace is one plan at €25 a month with everything included, and it runs on the phone you already have. It grew out of work with real producers, from a microgreens grower to a bakery to a school meals kitchen, and it’s new and in use with pilot customers.
SmartTrace is a joint venture between GBA Solutions and Food Safety Management Solutions Ltd (FSMS), with the food safety side led by Mark Long. It’s run by SmartChef Limited in Ireland. Its sister product SmartChef does a different job for a different kind of business.
The problems SmartTrace solves
A supplier recall you can’t answer quickly
When a supplier recalls a lot, the first thing they’ll ask is whether you have it. SmartTrace shows the delivery it arrived on, every batch it went into and every customer who received those batches, in seconds.
The missing link between deliveries and batches
Paper systems most often lose the record of which incoming lots went into which batch. SmartTrace asks which delivery each ingredient came from every time you start a batch, so the chain never has a gap.
Recalling everything because you can’t be precise
A producer with good records recalls three batches and credits four customers. Linked records let you recall only what’s affected instead of a fortnight’s production.
Who SmartTrace is for
- Bakeries
- Microgreens and salad growers
- Ready meals and cook chill kitchens
- Cheese and dairy
- Preserves, sauces and chutneys
- Butchers and charcuterie
- School meals and contract catering
- Chocolate and confectionery
- Coffee roasters
- Snacks, granola and protein balls
- Honey producers
- Drinks, cordials and kombucha
For bakeries
Your batches move through stages such as Preparation, Baking and Ready on the production board. Scan the sack of flour when you start a batch and SmartTrace knows exactly which delivery went in.
For microgreens and salad growers
A grower’s stages might be Sown, Growing and Ready to harvest, and SmartTrace can move batches on by themselves after a set number of days. The production board shows what’s at each stage and works out ready dates for you.
For ready meals and cook chill kitchens
A cook chill workflow can include Preparation, Cooking, Chilling, Portioning and Ready, with every move timestamped. Recipes scale to the quantity you’re making and tell you before you start if an ingredient is short.
For hampers, mixed boxes and meal kits
Set up the product once with what goes in it, then assemble as many as you need. SmartTrace takes the right amounts from each batch and the trace follows every component.
How SmartTrace works
Set up once, with us
When you sign up we ring you within a working day and set up your production stages, units, ingredients, suppliers, recipes, customers and label printer with you. It’s free and usually takes under an hour.
Record what comes in
Point your phone’s camera at the supplier’s label and SmartTrace reads the product, lot number and best before date. Check them, adjust the quantity and save, and stock levels update straight away.
Make a batch
Pick a recipe and how many you’re making. SmartTrace lists each ingredient with the amount needed and asks which delivery it came from, then gives the batch an ID, a label and a place on the production board.
Send it out and trace it
Choose the customer, pick the batches and quantities, and save. When you need to know where something went, type in the lot or batch and SmartTrace gives you the full report in seconds.
What’s included for €25 a month
Instant traceability report
Type in a supplier lot number, batch, product, ingredient, customer or dispatch and SmartTrace builds the full history forwards or backwards. Print it, export it to Excel or hand the inspector your phone.
Label reading by camera
Photograph a supplier’s label and SmartTrace reads the product, lot number and dates into the delivery record. You can also type a delivery in by hand.
Recipes that prompt you
Set up each recipe once with its ingredients and quantities for a standard batch, and it scales automatically when you make more or less.
Production board
See every batch at its current stage, with stages named to match how you work. Stages can advance on their own after a set time.
QR labels and automatic printing
Every delivery and batch can have its own QR label, so you scan instead of picking from lists. With the recommended label printer, labels print by themselves when a delivery or batch is saved.
Stock and expiry alerts
Set a minimum for each ingredient and SmartTrace tells you when you’re low and what’s near its best before date.
Reports with CSV export
Production, dispatch and ingredient usage reports for any date range, exportable to a spreadsheet.
Phone app and desktop in one account
A phone app with big buttons for the floor and a full desktop for setup and reports, with the same login and the same records.
Unlimited team members
Everyone gets their own login and sees the same records as they’re made. You can limit what each person can do.
Set up with you, not by a wizard
Every producer has their own stages, recipes, units, suppliers and customers, and getting those right is what makes the production board and reports make sense. So we ring you, ask how you actually work and set it all up with you. You then try it for a week with records that are right from day one, so the trial tells you something real.
SmartTrace compared with paper and spreadsheets
Paper and spreadsheets can work until the day you need a trace.
| The usual way | With SmartTrace | |
|---|---|---|
| Finding every batch that used one delivery | Reading back through weeks of batch sheets | Type in the lot number and get the report in seconds |
| Linking deliveries to batches | Easy to miss an entry, which breaks the chain | Asked for every ingredient each time you start a batch |
| Recording on the floor | Hard to update a spreadsheet from a phone with floury hands | Phone app with big buttons, camera label reading and QR scanning |
| Lot numbers | Copied by hand from the bag or docket | Read from the supplier’s label by the camera |
| Stock levels | Counted separately, if at all | Updated with every delivery, batch and dispatch, with low stock alerts |
| Showing an inspector | Searching through diaries and dockets | A printed or exported trace in a couple of minutes |
Your data and support
- Records are stored securely in the cloud with nightly off-site backups.
- Reports export to CSV at any time, and you can have a full export of your records on request.
- If a payment fails, your records stay safe and visible, and nobody is ever locked out of their own traceability records.
- Help by email, phone or video call is included, and so is the setup call.
SmartTrace pricing
Everything included
€25 a month
Plus VAT where it applies. Unlimited batches, deliveries, dispatches and team members.
One plan with no tiers, add ons or per user charges. Setup is free on a call, you get 7 days to try it with no card, and there’s a 30 day money back guarantee once you subscribe. A label printer is optional.
Common questions about SmartTrace
What is SmartTrace?
SmartTrace is food traceability software for small food producers. You record what arrives with the supplier’s lot number, what you make from it and who you sent it to. You can then trace any batch forwards to customers or backwards to suppliers in seconds.
How much does SmartTrace cost?
SmartTrace costs €25 a month plus VAT where it applies, with everything included and unlimited batches and users. There’s no contract, setup is free and done with you on a call, and you get 7 days to try it with no card. There’s also a 30 day money back guarantee after you subscribe.
Who is SmartTrace for?
SmartTrace is for small and medium food producers who make something and sell it on, such as bakeries, growers, ready meal kitchens, cheesemakers, preserve makers, butchers, caterers and coffee roasters. If you have ingredients coming in and product going out, it fits.
Is SmartTrace what an inspector wants to see?
Inspectors want to see that you can identify what went into a product and where it went, one step back and one step forward, and produce that quickly. SmartTrace gives you that as a printable or exportable report from any batch, lot number, customer or dispatch.
How does SmartTrace help with a product recall?
When a supplier recalls a lot, SmartTrace shows every batch that used it and every customer who received those batches. When a customer complains, it works backwards to the batch and its suppliers just as quickly. That lets you recall precisely rather than everything you made that fortnight.
Is SmartTrace hard to set up?
No, because the SmartTrace team does it with you. When you sign up they ring you within a working day and set up your production stages, recipes, suppliers and customers together, usually in under an hour. After that, day to day work is mostly scanning and tapping.
Is there a SmartTrace app to download?
There’s no app store involved. SmartTrace runs in the web browser on any phone, tablet or computer, on iPhone and Android. On a phone you add it to your home screen and it opens like any other app.
Do I need a label printer for SmartTrace?
No, but it makes day to day work quicker because you scan labels instead of picking from lists. SmartTrace recommends the Phomemo M221, about €60 to €70, which prints automatically through the free Print Service app on an Android phone or tablet. Without a printer you can print labels on an ordinary printer or not use labels at all.
Can several people use SmartTrace at the same time?
Yes. Everyone on your team has their own login and sees the same records as they’re made, and you can limit what each person can do. There’s no charge per user.
Can I get my data out of SmartTrace if I leave?
Yes. SmartTrace reports export to CSV at any time, and you can ask for a full export of your records.
Want to know if SmartTrace is right for you?
Have a look at smarttrace.app, or get in touch and we’ll talk you through it.