Traceability and product integrity

Impact on society
and Vion’s role

With our traceability and product integrity system, we make a positive impact on our stakeholders by building trust and a transparent supply chain. Through our standards, we pave the way to the creation of new, state-of-the-art standards within our industry. However, Vion might cause a potential negative impact should we fail to comply with laws, regulations and voluntary standards, or through incorrect product information. In 2022, we again had no compliance issues involving product integrity.Trust in food depends on having a high degree of transparency. Connecting farmers and consumers through specific supply chains is a good way of showing people who is behind the production of their food. This gives the farmer and his or her family a recognisable face, and shows consumers that our food’s supply chain is a work of craftsmanship, from farmer to butcher or from vegan-food producer.

We are committed to being transparent about product origin, which we achieve by providing full traceability.

News & Stories

Press release
28 November 2023 Positive results for butcher formula De Groene Weg
Press release
22 November 2023 Vion Digital Innovation Manager wins German Meat Industry Talent Award 2023
Press release
13 November 2023 World Steak Challenge 2023: Vion wins 2x gold, 1x silver and 5x bronze
Press release
04 October 2023 Philippe Thomas COO of new Germany organisation at Vion
Press release
26 September 2023 DistriFresh further expands electric fleet and takes next step towards CO₂-neutral transport
Press release
22 September 2023 Stronger together to provide Food that Matters – Vion’s sustainability commitment at Anuga 2023
Press release
10 August 2023 Meat’s Image on the Mend: A Positive Shift in Perception
Press release
19 July 2023 In a sustainable food chain, everyone contributes to a fair revenue model
Press release
19 July 2023 Vion takes over contract slaughtering for Munich 'Schlachthof Zenettistraße'
Press release
13 July 2023 Vion and Danish Crown collaborate in Northern Germany
Press release
29 June 2023 Vion accelerates strategy and aligns capacity with the market
Press release
15 June 2023 Dr Veronika Weber is the new Director Quality Assurance Vion Germany
Press release
07 June 2023 Vion announces strategic transformations 
Press release
25 May 2023 Vion wants to adjust production capacities in Germany
Press release
17 May 2023 Vion presents colourful premium protein variety at PLMA 2023

Activities in 2022

Companies that produce food items with complicated supply chains face a significant challenge to ensure that their products can be traced both upstream
and downstream. We can trace all our food items, whether derived from plants or animals, to their originating farms. Product integrity involves organising production, processes and supply chains to create and manage a transparent, honest and reliable chain of custody. It further guarantees the consumer that the product inside the packaging is what is shown on the label.

Traceability

We are committed to being transparent about product origin, which we achieve by providing full traceability. Traceability information for all plant products and other non-animal ingredients processed at Vion is documented and delivered with the product, either on paper or digitally. Animals are individually marked using, for example, ear tags for cattle or tattooed number for pigs. The underlying databases enable us to trace all slaughtered pigs and cattle to their places of birth.

Following meat inspection, all carcasses are given an individual identifier linked to the ear tag, tattoo number or an RFID chip. When carcasses or parts of the carcass are processed, typical batch specifications include the processing site, slaughter site, origin of the animal, quality programmes, breeds and production dates. Relevant information is included on the consumer packaging labels, which offers the consumer guidance when making their choices. The consumer product is always traceable to a group of farmers in the supply chain.

We can trace all meats and processed products to the day of slaughter. For the processing plants, where we slaughter up to 4,000 cattle or up to 20,000 pigs a day, this means we can immediately trace, on a daily basis, the product to the group of farms which delivered the animals. For retailers and similar customers, we provide a traceability code on the package that shows the farm that supplies that specific retailer. This allows the consumer to scan a QR code. Doing so then enables them to see where the product was produced, at which plant the animal was slaughtered and when this took place.

Relevant information is included on the consumer packaging labels, which offers the consumer guidance when making their choices

Product integrity

Our quality standard includes a description of our physical and administrative processes. We make a product integrity risk assessment. This assessment results in the identification and quantification of the various risks related to product integrity. This then forms the basis for the control programme for product integrity within Vion. Part of this control programme involves the monitoring and verification of all procedures which concern product integrity. In addition, the product integrity control programme is subject to an internal peer review audit, second-party audits carried out by our customers, and third- party audits carried out by independent, accredited certification bodies.

As with food safety and animal welfare, we recognise that product integrity is primarily the responsibility of all supply chain partners. Based on this, we began to develop a Dutch Chain of Custody standard for pork, certified under the ‘Beter Leven’ standard of the Dutch animal welfare trust. This was launched in 2015 with the retail-wide introduction of ‘Beter Leven’ pork in the Netherlands. This Chain of Custody standard was developed with the Dutch Retail Association and several certifying bodies.

News & Stories

Press release
28 November 2023 Positive results for butcher formula De Groene Weg
Press release
22 November 2023 Vion Digital Innovation Manager wins German Meat Industry Talent Award 2023
Press release
13 November 2023 World Steak Challenge 2023: Vion wins 2x gold, 1x silver and 5x bronze
Press release
04 October 2023 Philippe Thomas COO of new Germany organisation at Vion
Press release
26 September 2023 DistriFresh further expands electric fleet and takes next step towards CO₂-neutral transport
Press release
22 September 2023 Stronger together to provide Food that Matters – Vion’s sustainability commitment at Anuga 2023
Press release
10 August 2023 Meat’s Image on the Mend: A Positive Shift in Perception
Press release
19 July 2023 In a sustainable food chain, everyone contributes to a fair revenue model
Press release
19 July 2023 Vion takes over contract slaughtering for Munich 'Schlachthof Zenettistraße'
Press release
13 July 2023 Vion and Danish Crown collaborate in Northern Germany
Press release
29 June 2023 Vion accelerates strategy and aligns capacity with the market
Press release
15 June 2023 Dr Veronika Weber is the new Director Quality Assurance Vion Germany
Press release
07 June 2023 Vion announces strategic transformations 
Press release
25 May 2023 Vion wants to adjust production capacities in Germany
Press release
17 May 2023 Vion presents colourful premium protein variety at PLMA 2023
% external sold volume with a specific integrity standard (IFS PIA, Orgainvent, LQB Herkunft)
 % external sold volume with a specific integrity standard
2020 77 %
2021 76 %
2022 87 %
% external sold volume from plants with IFS PIA product integrity standard
% external sold volume from plants with IFS PIA product integrity standard
2020 58 %
2021 57 %
2022 67 %
% external sold volume from plants with German Orgainvent or LQB-Herkunft integrity standard
% external sold volume from plants with German Orgainvent or LQB-Herkunft integrity standard
2020 19 %
2021 20 %
2022 18 %

News & Stories

Press release
28 November 2023 Positive results for butcher formula De Groene Weg
Press release
22 November 2023 Vion Digital Innovation Manager wins German Meat Industry Talent Award 2023
Press release
13 November 2023 World Steak Challenge 2023: Vion wins 2x gold, 1x silver and 5x bronze
Press release
04 October 2023 Philippe Thomas COO of new Germany organisation at Vion
Press release
26 September 2023 DistriFresh further expands electric fleet and takes next step towards CO₂-neutral transport
Press release
22 September 2023 Stronger together to provide Food that Matters – Vion’s sustainability commitment at Anuga 2023
Press release
10 August 2023 Meat’s Image on the Mend: A Positive Shift in Perception
Press release
19 July 2023 In a sustainable food chain, everyone contributes to a fair revenue model
Press release
19 July 2023 Vion takes over contract slaughtering for Munich 'Schlachthof Zenettistraße'
Press release
13 July 2023 Vion and Danish Crown collaborate in Northern Germany
Press release
29 June 2023 Vion accelerates strategy and aligns capacity with the market
Press release
15 June 2023 Dr Veronika Weber is the new Director Quality Assurance Vion Germany
Press release
07 June 2023 Vion announces strategic transformations 
Press release
25 May 2023 Vion wants to adjust production capacities in Germany
Press release
17 May 2023 Vion presents colourful premium protein variety at PLMA 2023