ftrace Food Traceability Platform

ftrace GmbH is a German food traceability provider. The tool was first developed by meat group Tönnies, taken over by GS1 Germany in 2012, spun off as a subsidiary in 2016 and majority-acquired by Mannheim software company osapiens in 2023, with GS1 Germany keeping 20%. The product now runs as osapiens ftrace.

The platform builds a chain of custody across suppliers, processors, packers and logistics partners. It ingests harvest, catch, processing and shipping events via REST, JSON, EPCIS XML or XLSX, links parent and child lots, validates data and answers queries by portal or API. Data is shared by audience: retailers, authorities and consumers via QR code. It serves seafood, meat, dairy, produce, grains and multi-ingredient products.

• Event ingestion: Accepts REST, JSON, EPCIS XML, XLSX and ERP feeds.
• Lot linking: Connects parent and child lots across transformations.
• Data validation: Flags missing or inconsistent evidence automatically.
• Flexible queries: Retrieves full chains or origin only via portal or API.
• Audience control: Shares data by product with retailers, authorities and consumers.
• Consumer QR: Shows selected origin data via QR codes on packs.

• A Vietnamese pangasius or shrimp exporter sending EPCIS lot data to German retailers. 2) A meat processor managing recall-ready lot links. 3) A food brand showing origin data to consumers via QR.

• Neutral data exchange lets each chain partner connect existing systems once. 2) Lot linking keeps splits, merges and repacking traceable for recalls. 3) Permission-based sharing controls what retailers, authorities and consumers see. 4) Built on GS1 standards and EPCIS events for compatibility.

The EU's revised Fisheries Control Regulation introduces digital traceability rules for seafood, and retailers require lot-level origin data for meat and produce. Vietnamese seafood and food exporters to Germany and the EU increasingly need to feed data into buyer platforms based on GS1 and EPCIS.

osapiens acquired 80% of ftrace GmbH in 2023; GS1 Germany holds 20%. web.ftrace.com now redirects to osapiens. The osapiens product page cites over 850 customers, 315 million track-and-trace events and 250,000 GTINs tracked.