OnTrace Verified Network Launches

June 22, 2011 – OnTrace Agri-Food Traceability announced its official launch of the OnTrace Verified Network (OVN). Designed for use by businesses of any size, OnTrace’s new traceability service is a secure, online inter-party network that enables business partners along the food chain to work together to seamlessly share key information as well as verify food product claims.

“OnTrace launches the OnTrace Verified Network (OVN), with the objective of providing an affordable, inter-party traceability tool that works with multiple business partners and any size company,” said Brian Sterling, Chief Executive Officer, OnTrace. “We understood from the outset the importance of having broad appeal and we’ve listened to the early users in an effort to get it right. We are now ready for new members and we hope they provide us with their feedback as we can continue to improve the OVN.”

New Life Mills – First Corporate Member

As part of the official launch, OnTrace welcomes their first corporate member, New Life Mills, a Canadian-owned manufacturer of livestock feed and a producer of eggs, chickens and turkeys that is headquartered in Hanover, Ontario. “We are excited by the potential benefits of the OnTrace Verified Network,” said Ryan Kreager, Manager, Corporate Risk and Compliance, New Life Mills. “Initially we plan to use it to speed our response time in biosecurity concerns or foreign animal disease situations involving our partner locations. With the OVN we can quickly map an affected area and then reroute our trucks to mitigate potential risks to our customers’ businesses as well as our own.”

“OnTrace began its work in 2006 with the objective of building and then operating the OnTrace Agri-food Premises Registry which we launched in 2008,” said Bruce Saunders, Chair of OnTrace. “With the launch of the OVN, we have now strengthened the industry’s ability to track and trace animals and products. We believe that this kind of collaborative solution is a much more effective way of delivering traceability and does not interfere with the speed of commerce. We are delighted that New Life Mills has decided to become an early innovator with OnTrace.”

In its simplest terms, the OnTrace Verified Network is an online service that gives members the ability to:

• Trace It -keep track of critical product and animal movements and link partners into their own secure, accessible business networks.
• Simplify It – easily communicate to and get feedback directly from partners and consumers.
• Verify It – verify the source of products – which will boost brand equity and customer loyalty.

Be an OVN Early Member – it’s free

OnTrace is currently seeking and encouraging agri-food businesses that are interested in participating in the network as early adopters. As an early adopter these innovators will have the opportunity to provide insight and design ideas into the development of the network. Strength in numbers will make the OVN an efficient, economical service that provides the reliable and secure exchange of information between business partners.

Visit www.ontrace.ca and follow the link to OnTrace Verified Network sign up page. Becoming a member and using the public tools are free of charge. There is no software to buy and the OVN runs on most web browsers.