Festival Foods Adopts Technology to Help Automate Food Safety Monitoring

Festival Foods, one of Wisconsin's largest independent grocers, is implementing new technology chain-wide to provide real-time access to temperature and food safety data at the product level.

Beginning with a pilot with Minnetonka, Minn.-based IoT services provider Digi International, the De Pere, Wis.-based independent grocer adopted SmartSense by Digi for task management and continuous temperature across all of its locations. The technology provides a subscription-based service that continuously monitors task management activities and the temperature of perishable goods wirelessly.

The 30-day test included real-time, product-level monitoring in all refrigeration units, food temperature monitoring in deli sections and automated task management. In addition to helping guarantee food safety, the combination of continuous, accurate temperature readings and automated record-keeping saves thousands of dollars and employee hours per year by reducing shrinkage and manual tasks.

In the technology's second year, Festival Foods anticipates a 300 percent return on its annual investment.

"SmartSense is a proactive approach to equipment maintenance and food safety that gives us the operational oversight we need to improve our bottom line and serve our guests better than ever," said Hsing-Yi Hsieh, Festival Foods director of food protection and regulatory affairs. "Now every store has real-time access to temperature and food safety data at the product level, and we're able to get ahead of any potential issues well before they become a reality."

Festival Foods operates 32 independent grocery stores across Wisconsin.