Wine Business Monthly has an article that gives a good overview of using bar tags for tracking. Imagine taking the features discussed in this article – barrel location, alcohol levels, tasting scores, purchase date and wine status – and add in tracking the state of the wine (tempurature etc) and that is where RFID will be taking us. We’re already seeing some early applications in the wine and cheese industries and there is little doubt this will grow.
This also plays into compliance with bioterrorism and othe related regulations. “To address the problem of food traceability, retailers and consumer packaged goods firms should use RFID tags to: meet traceability compliance deadlines; integrate agricultural firms into the food chain; slash product recall costs with case-level RFID tags; and probe RFID tags benefits with a clear business case,” said Forrester Senior Analyst Charles Homs. “Regulations don’t specify the use of RFID tags to comply with food safety regulations, but using them to find goods in distribution centers, retail stores, and trucks in transit will help firms respond within the predefined time limits to any official inquiry.”