System, Method and Apparatus for Tracking Origins of Produce

Abstract

A system for tracking produce delivered to a consumer includes a source of produce and several end-customer containers for delivering the produce to the customer. Each of the end-customer containers has an identifier that is scannable and includes a statistically unique code. A computer has software that captures/reads data pertaining to the produce. Each of the end-customer containers is filled with a subset of the produce. The software running on the computer captures the unique code from each of the end-customer containers and creates an association between the unique code and the data pertaining to the produce. The software running on the computer stores the association between the unique code and the data pertaining to the produce in a database.

1 . A system for tracking produce delivered to a consumer, the system comprising:
 a plurality of end-customer containers for delivering the produce to the customer, each container having an identifier, the identifier being scannable and the identifier comprising at least a statistically unique code;   software running on a computer receives data pertaining to the produce;   each of the end-customer containers is filled with a subset of the produce;   a device for reading the identifier is interfaced to the computer, the device for reading the identifier reads the identifier and provides the statistically unique codes to the computer;   software running on the computer receives the statistically unique codes and the software creates an association between the statistically unique codes and the data pertaining to the produce; and   the software running on the computer stores the association between the statistically unique codes and the data pertaining to the produce in a database.   
     
     
         2 . The system for tracking produce delivered to a consumer of  claim 1 , wherein the identifier is a bar code and the statistically unique code is embedded within the barcode. 
     
     
         3 . The system for tracking produce delivered to a consumer of  claim 2 , wherein the barcode is a QR code. 
     
     
         4 . The system for tracking produce delivered to a consumer of  claim 1 , wherein the identifier is a RFID and the statistically unique code is encoded within the RFID. 
     
     
         5 . The system for tracking produce delivered to a consumer of  claim 1 , wherein the data pertaining to the produce comprises one or more data-items selected from the group consisting of a produce origin, a date picked, one or more picker identifications, a harvest crew, a harvest event, a time picked, and a packing station. 
     
     
         6 . A system for tracking produce delivered to a consumer, the system comprising:
 a plurality of end-customer containers for delivering the produce to the customer, each end-customer container having a scannable identifier, and each scannable identifier including a statistically unique code;   software running on a computer receives data pertaining to the produce;   each of the end-customer containers is filled with a subset of the produce;   means for reading the scannable identifier, the means for reading being operatively interfaced to the computer;   software running on the computer receives, from the means for reading, the statistically unique code of each of the end-customer containers that have been filled and the software creates an association between the statistically unique codes and the data pertaining to the produce; and   the software running on the computer stores the association between the statistically unique codes and the data pertaining to the produce in a database.   
     
     
         7 . The system for tracking produce delivered to a consumer of  claim 6 , wherein the statistically unique code is unique for a given time span. 
     
     
         8 . The system for tracking produce delivered to a consumer of  claim 7 , wherein the time span is at least one month. 
     
     
         9 . The system for tracking produce delivered to a consumer of  claim 7 , wherein the time span is at least one year. 
     
     
         10 . The system for tracking produce delivered to a consumer of  claim 6 , wherein the data pertaining to the produce comprises one or more data-items selected from the group consisting of a produce origin, a date picked, one or more picker identifications, a harvest crew, a harvest event, a time picked, and a packing station. 
     
     
         11 . A system for tracking a batch of produce delivered to a consumer, the system comprising:
 a plurality of identifiers on end-customer containers, each of the identifiers comprising a statistically unique code, each of the end-customer containers containing a subset of the produce;   means for receiving data related to the produce;   means for capturing each of the statistically unique codes from the identifiers on the end-customer containers; and   means for relating each of the statistically unique codes with the data related to the produce.   
     
     
         12 . The system for tracking the batch of produce delivered to a consumer of  claim 11 , wherein the statistically unique codes are sequentially related by a fixed numerical value. 
     
     
         13 . The system for tracking the batch of produce delivered to a consumer of  claim 12 , wherein the fixed numerical value is one. 
     
     
         14 . The system for tracking the batch of produce delivered to a consumer of  claim 12 , wherein the statistically unique codes are a pseudo-random sequence. 
     
     
         15 . The system for tracking produce delivered to a consumer of  claim 12 , wherein the identifier is a barcode and the unique codes are encoded within the barcode. 
     
     
         16 . The system for tracking produce delivered to a consumer of  claim 15 , wherein the barcode is a QR code. 
     
     
         17 . The system for tracking produce delivered to a consumer of  claim 16 , wherein the QR code further comprises a web address. 
     
     
         18 . The system for tracking produce delivered to a consumer of  claim 11 , wherein the data related to the produce includes a field of origin. 
     
     
         19 . The system for tracking produce delivered to a consumer of  claim 11 , wherein the data related to the produce comprises one or more data-items selected from the group consisting of a produce origin, a date picked, one or more picker identifications, a harvest crew, a harvest event, a time picked, and a packing station. 
     
     
         20 . The system for tracking produce delivered to a consumer of  claim 11 , wherein the means for capturing each of the statistically unique codes is a scanner.