Food traceability software for processors and wholesalers
For food processors and food wholesalers who handle foods on FDA's Food Traceability List and keep their lot records in spreadsheets, paper and email. We build a web system that follows every lot from the truck it came on, through each production run, to every customer it went to, and produces the sortable spreadsheet the FSMA 204 rule asks for in one click. A typical build costs $8,000 to $25,000 at a fixed price, and hosting and support start at $350 a month.
Last reviewed: November 5, 2026
What the FSMA 204 rule asks for, and when
The FSMA 204 Food Traceability Rule (21 CFR Part 1, Subpart S) asks firms that handle listed foods to keep key data for each receiving, production (transformation) and shipping event, and to give FDA those records as an electronic sortable spreadsheet within 24 hours when it asks during an outbreak or recall.
- When: FDA has said it will not enforce the rule before July 20, 2028. It proposed that compliance date in August 2025, and Congress directed FDA not to enforce the rule before it (FDA).
- The nearer reason: major retailers and foodservice distributors are already writing traceability into supplier contracts, some with earlier dates.
- Any tool will do, as long as it produces the records. A system built around your own steps is a legitimate answer, not a workaround.
- What a system can't do for you: the rule also asks for a written traceability plan and procedures. The system keeps the records and produces the spreadsheet; the plan is still yours to write.
What processors and wholesalers need that a spreadsheet handles badly
- Receiving records with the lot code, quantity, product, the supplier, the location, the date, the lot code's source and the bill of lading, typed (or not) from paperwork.
- Production records that link every input lot to the new lot it went into, which spreadsheets lose the first time a run uses two lots.
- Shipping by lot to each customer location.
- Fast answers: which customers got a lot, and everything made from it, in minutes rather than a day of digging through spreadsheets and email.
- Holds that really stop a suspect lot, and everything made from it, from being used or shipped.
- Mock recalls practiced, with the drill log a food safety plan or a customer audit asks for.
What we build for a food business
The demo shows each piece working for a fictional fresh-cut produce processor, Harrow Creek Produce, chosen because almost everything it handles is on the Food Traceability List.
- Receiving, one line per lot with every receiving data element; a line with no lot code gets a temporary code and a flag.
- Emailed bills of lading, read by AI: the AI reads a grower's bill of lading PDF into a draft receipt, with lot codes character for character, quantities, pack dates, the product matched to your catalog, and Spanish and trade names (such as "tomate saladette" and "pepino") translated. It lists what it was unsure of first. A person checks the draft beside the PDF and receives the truck. Nothing is received on the AI's word alone.
- Production runs: the lots used and the new lot made, under your own lot code. Held lots and lots past their best-by date aren't offered.
- Shipping by lot to each customer location.
- Lots and traces: every lot's trace as a timeline, back to the growers and forward to every customer.
- Holds: hold a lot and everything made from it in one step. Anything already shipped is raised as a flag; release with a note.
- Mock recall: pick a lot, start the clock, see every run, lot and customer it touched, and download the sortable spreadsheet, laid out column for column like FDA's own template. The drill log keeps the time from start to spreadsheet.
- Flags, history and Excel: food safety flags (a missing lot code, a held lot already shipped, a warm truck), the owner's dashboard, a history of who changed what, and any list exported to Excel.
In the demo's sample data, one 60-case romaine lot went into nine production runs and out on twenty trucks to all ten customers within ten days. The system works out that trace in a fraction of a second; the time a drill takes is the person's, not the system's.
You own all of it: the code, the data and the address.
What it costs, and how long it takes
A traceability system is a fixed-price build, typically $8,000 to $25,000, then hosting and support from $350 a month. The price depends on your steps, your products and how your records are kept today, and you see it in writing before anything starts.
| Blueprint | From $1,500: the written plan and the fixed price for the build, credited in full to it |
|---|---|
| Build | Fixed price per phase; most projects $8,000 to $25,000 |
| Included | The first 3 months of Standard support |
| After that | Support plans from $350 a month, hosting included, month to month |
How it compares with the alternatives
| Option | Cost | Fits best when |
|---|---|---|
| Spreadsheets and paper logs | Time, and a day of searching in a recall | Few lots and few customers |
| Traceability software | Small-business tiers under $500 a month, often per seat or per location | Your steps fit the package as it comes |
| Rowhouse Systems | $8,000 to $25,000 once, then from $350 a month | You want the system to follow your own plant, products and customers, and to own it |
Traceability vendors pitch small-business tiers under $500 a month (iFactory). Prices change, so check each vendor's own quote.
See it working
The demo is Harrow Creek Produce, a fictional fresh-cut produce processor with growers, production runs and ten customers. Sign in with one click, let the AI read a grower's bill of lading, put a lot on hold, and run a mock recall to the spreadsheet. The data resets every night, so you can't break anything.
Questions
Does this make us compliant with FSMA 204?
It keeps the records the rule asks for and produces the sortable spreadsheet in one click. The written traceability plan and procedures are still yours. FDA has said it will not enforce the rule before July 20, 2028.
Our growers' lot codes are messy or missing. What happens then?
A line received with no lot code gets a temporary code and a flag, so it is traced from the start and someone follows it up. Codes are kept exactly as written, character for character.
We use QuickBooks or an ERP for orders and invoices. Does this replace it?
It sits beside it. The system keeps the lots and their trail; orders and invoices stay where they are. Connecting the two is part of scoping the build.
Can the AI read our suppliers' bills of lading? What if it gets one wrong?
Yes, from the PDF, including Spanish and trade names. It lists what it was unsure of first, and a person checks every draft beside the PDF before the truck is received, so a mistake is caught before it becomes a record.
How long does a mock recall take, and what does FDA receive?
The trace itself is instant; the drill takes as long as your team takes to review it, and the drill log records that time. FDA receives the sortable spreadsheet, laid out like its own template's Shipping, Receiving and Transformation tabs.
Can our warehouse and dock use it on a tablet?
Yes. The system opens in the web browser on any computer, tablet or phone, with nothing to install; it needs an internet connection.
We're a wholesaler, not a processor. Is this for us?
Yes. Lots shipped as received keep the grower's lot code, and the production screens simply go unused.
What does it cost, and who owns it?
A fixed-price build, typically $8,000 to $25,000, then from $350 a month for hosting and support. The system, the code and the data are yours, with an export to Excel at any time.