OBE Organic: Beefing Up Sustainability, Risk Management & Partner Accountability

How Greater Visibility Beefs Up Sustainability, Risk Management & Partner Accountability

For nearly 30 years, OBE Organic has supplied succulent grass-fed organic beef to restaurants and retailers worldwide. Australia’s first and oldest organic beef exporter is committed to producing healthy, great-tasting organic beef in a culture of uncompromising sustainability.

That commitment extends well beyond the 20 million acres of Australian Outback pastures where cattle are free to roam and graze on more than 250 species of seasonal native grasses. As the world’s second-largest beef exporter (Australia trails only Brazil), Australian exporters like OBE Organic rely on a network of partners who are committed to meeting the world’s growing demand for organic beef and doing so as sustainably as possible. It’s a supply chain ecosystem that demands risk management and partner accountability, and Tive’s partnership with OBE Organic is an essential driver toward those end goals.

“We all have a role to play in optimizing sustainable
supply chains around the world. Picking the right
technology is critical.”

- Dalene Wray, Managing Director OBE Organic

COVID-19 Brought a Whole New World of Challenges

Before COVID, Australian exporters like OBE Organic and their logistics partners moved meat products worldwide seamlessly, achieving on-time, in-full shipments with great regularity. But as the virus escalated to pandemic status and tightened its grip on the world’s populations and economies, several challenges emerged that battered beleaguered supply chains to their breaking point:

• ‍Unprecedented disruptions: Lockdowns, curfews, border restrictions, and customs backlogs brought international trade to a near standstill. Deemed an essential business, OBE Organic could still operate, but moving its products took much longer than usual. Lengthy delays added immense pressure to ensuring beef stayed within temperature limits when shipped by air or sea.‍
• The changing insurance market: Traditionally, if in-transit temperature excursions led to spoiled beef, OBE Organic could file an insurance claim. However, with the onset of COVID, insurers required documented proof of which entity had control of the shipment at the time of the excursion. Therefore, real-time visibility of in-transit perishable shipments became paramount.‍
• Soaring customer demand for visibility: Retailers and restaurateurs wanted assurances their organic beef shipments were traceable and had a maximum shelf life.

This overwhelming demand for a deeper level of traceability and visibility prompted OBE Organic’s contract processing partner facility to switch to Tive’s hyper-accurate trackers and cloud-based visibility solution. OBE Organic trusted its partner’s decision, opening new doors to risk management. “Tive is a solution to problems you wouldn’t think needed a technology solution,” Wray said.

The hyper-accurate Tive Solo 5G trackers and cloud-based platform were the perfect solution for OBE Organic and its supply chain partners. The Solo 5G trackers, applied to each shipment at the processing facility, allowed for real-time location, temperature, and humidity monitoring throughout a shipment’s journey by air or sea.

Each air shipment had at least one tracker, but ocean containers could have as many as four trackers—one each on the top and bottom and two in the middle. These trackers stayed in place throughout the journey until the final mile ended with successful delivery. Customer-configured alerts would trigger anytime a temperature or humidity excursion happened or if a delay occurred.

Tive Solo 5G trackers provide OBE Organic with:

Combined with real-time alerts from the platform, the 5G Solo trackers help OBE Organic elevate risk management to a whole new level that provides peace of mind.

“Real-time visibility provides reassurance that the product is where it’s meant to be, anywhere in the world. Tive trackers give us more insights into what’s happening to our products in transit, which we need for risk mitigation in a world of so many unknowns.”

- Dalene Wray

There is a lot of stress and anxiety in executing logistics to move perishable products, such as grass-fed beef, worldwide. Tive’s hyper-accurate trackers and end-to-end visibility solution provide OBE Organic, its supply chain partners, and customers with unparalleled reassurance.

Here are a few of the many ways Tive trackers have helped OBE Organic:

• Fewer Claims & Rejections
  A customer in Asia raised concerns about the appearance of an organic chilled beef shipment because it did not look like beef shipments they had received previously. After reviewing data and determining a temperature excursion did not occur, OBE Organic educated the customer that grass-fed beef has darker meat color and less marbling than grain-fed beef. This combination of data from the Tive Solo 5G Tracker and education, helped OBE Organic avoid a claim.

• Solve Border/Customs Problems
  A loyal OBE Organic customer of 20 years missed an important email and failed to apply for a license to import an AUD $35,000 beef shipment into an Asian country. The shipment could not be brought back to Australia—while it costs only AUD $5,000 to export the meat, to return to Australia would cost AUD $20,000. OBE Organic shared a shipment visibility link from the Tive platform with Australian Government Trade Officials. This link verified the beef’s location in Asia and resulted in Officials working with local government authorities to obtain clearance. Clearance and delivery could be viewed in real time by OBE Organic, their customer and Officials as they watched the truck leave the airport, go to the warehouse, and then deliver the meat to the customer successfully.

• Improve Risk Management & Decision-making
  Grass-fed beef shipped by sea is frozen, while shipments via air are chilled by dry ice. Air shipments from Australia to the Middle East are typically 14-hour flights. Upon arrival, the meat must be transferred to cold storage until the next leg of the journey. Tive’s trackers provide business intelligence in real-time that helps OBE Organic make informed decisions about what actions to take to ensure on-time in full shipments.

• Raise Partner Accountability
  Tive trackers provide reassurance that OBE Organic third-party logistics partners are meeting their obligations, ensuring the meat is maintained at the correct temperature whilst in transit. Real-time data can help clarify who is responsible, when a temperature excursion occurs, paving the way for a successful claim.

OBE Organic is putting sustainability in the spotlight with the release of a new report that details industry-leading practices in sustainable agriculture, supply chain management and human resources. Rich with information and QR codes linking to videos for each section of the report, OBE Organic’s ‘Flourish’ Report is the result of eighteen months of work and tracking more than six years of development. It provides an innovative insight into how food and agriculture businesses can grow and differentiate in global markets that are increasingly demanding sustainability across the board—from environment and animals, through to people and products. Learn more.