Traceability
If something goes wrong with a spice, the two questions that matter are: where did it come from, and where did it go? We can answer both for any lot in minutes, because every movement of every lot is recorded in HELM as it happens.
Lot Genealogy
Each inbound lot is assigned a Spice Admiral lot number at receiving and linked to the supplier, the supplier's lot, the exporter, the origin region and, where the supplier provides it, the farm, cooperative or collection point. From that moment forward, every action on the lot creates a record:
- Receiving inspection results and laboratory tests
- Cleaning, treatment and milling, with the production lot numbers created from the inbound lot
- Blending, with every ingredient lot recorded against the batch
- Packing, with the finished lot number printed on every container and case
- Shipment, with the customer, order, date and carrier
The result is a genealogy that can be read in either direction: from a finished case back to the field, or from an inbound lot forward to every customer who received any part of it.
What Customers See
In the Quarterdeck portal, a customer can enter any lot number from a container or case and see the full genealogy of that lot, including the certificate of analysis for the inbound material and the finished product. Supplier identities can be shown or masked according to the customer's agreement with us.
Recall Readiness
We conduct mock recalls at least twice a year at each facility, tracing a randomly selected lot in both directions. Our standard is one hundred percent reconciliation within two hours, and we have met it on every exercise since the current lot genealogy system went live with the HELM Logistics module in 2022. In a real event, affected customers would be contacted by their customer service representative with the specific lots and quantities shipped to them, and the data to support their own recall procedures.
Regulatory Recordkeeping
Our records exceed the requirements of FDA regulations for food traceability and the Foreign Supplier Verification Program. Records are retained for the shelf life of the product plus two years at minimum, and indefinitely for lot test results.
Why It Matters Beyond Recalls
Traceability is also how we improve. When a lot performs unusually well or unusually poorly, we can see where it came from, how it was handled and how it compared with other lots from the same supplier and season. That is how supplier scorecards are built, how treatment parameters are refined, and how the inspection models learn. See The HELM Platform.
