Loacker, an Italian company based in South Tyrol (Italy), produces wafers, chocolates, and derivative products with the promise of wholesome natural goodness, highest quality standards and absolute deliciousness. The brand is well known for its wafer and chocolate specialties, particularly the ‘Classic Napolitaner’ product line. With production facilities in Bolzano, Ritten, and Heinfels(Austria) and employing more than 4,000 people, the company gives supreme importance to selected, natural ingredients.

The Client’s challenges

Some of the key challenges faced by Loacker were: 

• The inability to provide technical advice to farmers and monitor farms
• Poor visibility into farmers’ cultivation processes and demarcation of their plots
• Inherent quality issues of the hazelnut crop

The brand wanted to invest in a simple, tech-enabled solution that would help achieve the following goals:

• Farmer digitization to assure transparency and sustainability in hazelnut farming
• Crop and warehouse management to ensure traceability in hazelnut production
• Close monitoring of activities and treatments

How Cropin helped

Loacker deployed Cropin’s farm digitization and traceability apps – Cropin Grow (SmartFarm) and Cropin Trace (RootTrace) to ensure its objectives of quality and sustainability in hazelnut production. With features such as geotagging farm plots, monitoring input usage, weather, pest and diseases advisory, etc., Cropin Grow (SmartFarm) was able to help the brand digitize, manage, and monitor their farms, improve data capture accuracy, and make data-driven decisions leading to increased productivity and profitability. Additionally, Cropin Trace (RootTrace) helped them gain complete control over their inventory, streamline order management and fulfillment, and improve transparency in farm operations. Together, the apps helped Loacker reaffirm its commitment to traceability and sustainability, while improving the livelihood of smallholder farmers.

Impact

• Total Number of Farmers: 85+
• Total Number of Plots: 95+
• Acres of audited Area: 225+
• Tonnes of harvest: 2000+