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Berry good practice: top-5 traceability insights for Australian berry growers in 2026

Feb 27, 2026 by Mark Dingley

Want to make your paddock-to-punnet traceability recall ready?

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For Australian berry growers, traceability has become a core part of doing business, not just a compliance exercise.

Whether you’re supplying major retailers, export markets or building your own brand, strong traceability protects your operation when things go wrong and builds confidence when everything goes right.

As expectations around food safety, transparency and speed continue to rise, growers need systems that work in real production environments and scale with their operation.

Here are five traceability insights Australian berry growers should focus on in 2026.

 

1. Traceability is about speed, not just records

In the event of a food-safety issue, time matters. Growers need to quickly identify:

  • where fruit was grown
  • when it was harvested and packed
  • which batches were affected
  • where product was sent

Strong traceability allows growers to respond fast and accurately, limiting recalls to affected products only. Without it, incidents can quickly escalate into broader disruptions, unnecessary recalls and reputational damage.

Good traceability is about being able to access the right information immediately. The more automated and accurate this process is, the faster growers can act if an issue arises, and the more confidence they can offer downstream partners.

2. Paddock-to-punnet traceability is now the baseline

Robust traceability systems must allow berries to be tracked from paddock to punnet, quickly and accurately.

Why it matters:

  • food-safety incidents demand rapid, targeted responses
  • retailers expect full visibility across the supply chain
  • poor traceability can lead to broader recalls than necessary, costing time, money and reputation

In practice, this means being able to link:

  • growing location and block
  • harvest date and crew
  • packing run and batch
  • distribution destination

This level of traceability helps demonstrate control over food-safety risks and supports ongoing market access. It also gives growers confidence when questions arise — whether during audits, customer enquiries or investigations.

3. Certification and traceability go hand in hand

Food-safety certifications such as Freshcare, GLOBALG.A.P. and SQF, and compliance frameworks such as HARPS, all rely on strong traceability as a foundation.

Certification is about demonstrating:

  • control over food-safety risks
  • consistent on-farm practices
  • reliable record-keeping
  • clear product identification through the supply chain

When traceability systems are manual or inconsistent, audits take longer, errors are more likely, and compliance becomes harder to maintain. Reliable, standardised traceability makes certification smoother and reduces audit fatigue over time.

4. Coding and labelling are the backbone of traceability

Traceability only works if products can be identified consistently and reliably at every stage of the supply chain. That’s where coding and labelling technologies come in — they translate your product’s identity and journey into readable, standardised codes that scanners, partners and systems can use.

Applied correctly, codes:

  • uniquely identify batches or runs
  • link physical product to records
  • enable fast tracking during incidents
  • reduce reliance on manual checks

What best-practice coding and labelling looks like

Effective traceability coding typically includes several layers of information:

  • date and batch codes — making it possible to quickly isolate specific harvests or production runs
  • primary barcodes (eg GTINs) — for product identity at retail scan points
  • carton and pallet labelling — enabling case-level tracking through DCs and logistics hubs
  • 2D barcodes such as GS1 DataMatrix or QR codes — carrying rich traceability data (learn more about 2D barcodes in our 2D Barcode Learning Centre)

These codes form the digital bridge between the physical fruit in your punnets and the systems that retailers and supply-chain partners use to track, verify and manage product movement.

Why this matters for growers

Good coding and labels mean:

  • faster, error-free scanning at dispatch and at DCs
  • cleaner recalls when they happen, because only affected batches are pulled
  • better compliance with retailer and regulatoryrequirements
  • reduced time spent fixing labelling errors that can delay acceptance at packing and distribution centres

Automation becomes especially valuable at scale, when manual label application or inconsistent codes create bottlenecks, data gaps and audit headaches.

5. The right technology makes traceability easier

The most effective traceability systems are built into everyday workflows. As operations scale and volumes increase, automated coding and labelling becomes essential. It improves accuracy, reduces human error, and ensures traceability information remains legible and consistent throughout the supply chain.

This is where specialist partners such as Matthews Australasia play a critical role. Matthews supports berry growers with coding, labelling and traceability solutions designed for fresh produce environments, helping ensure accurate product identification at speed.

With the right systems in place, growers can:

  • reduce manual handling and errors
  • respond faster to audits and incidents
  • maintain consistency across seasons and sites
  • future-proof their operation as requirements evolve

Instead of being a compliance burden, traceability becomes a reliable, repeatable part of daily production.

From paddock to punnet: connecting the full traceability chain

True traceability doesn’t start in the packhouse – it starts in the paddock. For berry growers, that means capturing and linking data from:

  • block or growing location
  • harvest crew and time
  • field bins
  • transfer to packhouse
  • grading and packing runs
  • punnet, tray and pallet identification

Field-level tracking, including bin labelling and scanning, ensures fruit can be traced from the moment it is harvested. Each bin becomes a data point, linked to location, time and crew, forming the foundation of the traceability chain.

Systems such as Matthews Australasia’s iDSnet help integrate this information across operations. By connecting bin tracking, production data and packaging lines, iDSnet enables growers to:

  • capture traceability data at harvest
  • manage and track bin movements into the packhouse
  • link grading and packing runs to specific harvest batches
  • automatically generate compliant codes for punnets, trays and pallets

The result is a continuous digital thread from paddock to punnet rather than isolated records at different stages.

Once fruit reaches the packing line, automated punnet, tray and carton coding ensures:

When paddock data flows seamlessly through to final packaging, traceability is structured and recall-ready.

Good traceability supports berry good farming

Good coding doesn’t just prove where your berries have been. It makes sure they can be tracked wherever they go. And in 2026, that’s the standard expected by modern markets.

Growers who invest in clear, scalable traceability systems now will be better placed to respond to change, build trust with customers, and keep their operations resilient in an increasingly demanding environment.

Ready to strengthen your paddock-to-punnet traceability?

Talk to the team at Matthews Australasia about integrated coding, labelling and iDSnet solutions designed for Australian berry growers.