Erudus Update: New Origin Attributes

We understand that transparency and traceability are more critical than ever, and we've listened to your feedback. That's why we're introducing new attributes to our data model, designed to report a deeper understanding of the origin of a product and its primary ingredients.

Why the Change?

In today's market, knowing where your products come from is essential. While our existing "Country of Origin" attribute has been historically useful, we've recognised the growing need for more detailed information. Many of our users have highlighted the importance of understanding not only where a product is manufactured, but also the origins of its primary ingredients.

Introducing the New Origin Attributes

To address these needs, we've expanded our data model with the following new attributes:

• Country of Origin (Mandatory): This remains a core attribute, indicating the country where the final product was manufactured.
• Place of Provenance (Optional): This allows for more specific regional information within a country, such as a particular town, region, or farm.
• Additional Origin Details (Optional): This provides a space for any other relevant information about the product's origin.
• Origin of the Primary Ingredient (Mandatory): This crucial new attribute specifies the origin of the primary ingredient in the product if it differs from the country of origin of the product (i.e. where it is manufactured).
• Additional Primary Ingredient Details (Optional): This allows for further details about the primary ingredient's origin.

Key Changes and Implementation

It’s important to note that while "Country of Origin" remains mandatory, we are also making “Origin of the Primary Ingredient” a mandatory field. This ensures that you have the most vital origin information at your fingertips. If the country of origin of the primary ingredient does not differ from the country of origin for the product (i.e where it is manufactured) then manufacturers have the option to select “Not applicable” for this mandatory attribute without needing to select a specific country. The other new attributes ("Place of Provenance" and "Additional Origin Details", "Additional Primary Ingredient Details") are optional, allowing for flexibility and more in-depth data where available.

Defining the Primary Ingredient

To clarify, a "primary ingredient" is defined as: "An ingredient or ingredients of a food that represents more than 50% of that food or which are usually associated with the name of the food by the consumer and for which, in most cases, a quantitative indication is required, i.e., a QUID declaration." This means that a product can have more than one primary ingredient if it meets either of these criteria:

• More than 50% Composition: An ingredient that makes up over half of the product.
• Consumer Association: An ingredient that consumers strongly associate with the product's name, even if it's not the majority component. For example, a sausage roll may contain less than 50% sausage meat, but this filling is strongly associated with the product based on the product's name.

This definition ensures that the most significant ingredients are clearly identified, allowing for accurate and detailed origin tracking.

What Does This Mean for You?

We understand that data accuracy and transparency are paramount in the food and beverage industry. These new origin attributes reflect our commitment to supporting your needs and helping you build trust with your customers. We encourage all Erudus users to familiarise themselves with these new attributes and ensure their product data is as comprehensive as possible. Manufacturers entering specification data have clear guidance for completion of all of the attributes in the product editor through our sidebar guidance.

Got questions?

The Erudus Support Team is always on hand to answer any questions or concerns you have about our updates and features. Get in touch with them via support@erudus.com or on 0333 121 89 99.