India-based packaging and storage company Ecotact has launched the Trace IQ, a real-time environmental and location monitoring device for green coffee in transit. The device was introduced at the recent World of Coffee San Diego trade show.
(Read all of DCN’s WOC San Diego coverage.)
The Trace IQ attaches directly to the interior wall of a shipping container — secured with a double-sided sticker near the door — and tracks temperature, humidity and location throughout a shipment’s journey, uploading readings every 30 minutes to a cloud-based dashboard.
Automated reports are generated throughout transit, and the data belongs to the user, the company told DCN in San Diego.
“It’s a tracker of the important parameters of coffee during its journey from origin to destination,” Ecotact Founder and CEO Hanuman Jain told Daily Coffee News. “You have real-time humidity levels of the shipping container. You have temperature levels. You have the exact location as to where these containers are.”
Coffee Applications
Similar shipment-monitoring tools are already used across food, pharmaceuticals, electronics and other temperature-sensitive goods industries, with devices from companies such as Tive, Sensitech and Roambee. Yet Ecotact described Trace IQ as the first to be purpose-built for the green coffee industry.
The Ecotact Trace IQ is designed to run for up to three months, a timeline that Jain said responds to increased disruptions in global shipping routes due to factors such as war or container shortages. Â
Jain described the product as particularly useful for larger companies that may be trading many containers of green coffee in a given year, allowing them to build their own databases to inform future shipping decisions. Those companies may also be able to use the device as leverage for better insurance coverage, Jain suggested.
“There are larger companies as well who are importing close to 3,000, 4,000 containers a year,” Jain said. “They need to be sure of what is happening in the transit.”
Ben Carlson, the co-founder of East African coffee production company Long Miles Coffee, told DCN that, from his perspective, the product could be equally useful for green coffee producers who want to track the voyage of their own coffees.Â
“We’re not doing 50 containers of coffee. The coffee we’re selling right now may be a single container,” Carlson said. “Maybe I sold FOT (free on truck), but I still care about my coffee. These are high-quality microlots.”
Carlson said a device like the Trace IQ may allow companies like his to confirm to importers or other downstream buyers that they did their part, even if the shipping vessel took a detour or two — perhaps experiencing extreme heat or delays — en route to its destination port. Sharing the transport data may also allow roasters or other buyers to better plan and market fresh coffees.
“For me as a specialty coffee producer, I want it, because it protects me too,” Carlson said. “I did my job.”
Beyond the Bag
The launch marks a significant expansion for Ecotact beyond its core product line of multilayer hermetic packaging. Founded in 2005, the company has built a presence in more than 60 countries and is perhaps best known for its 9-layer green coffee storage bags. Trace IQ represents the company’s first move into hardware-based supply chain data.
Ecotact declined to disclose specific price information, and the company’s website requires submissions for quotes. Jain described the product as “very economical.”
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Nick Brown
Nick Brown is the editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine.
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