My TraceIT Story
The journey of creating a simple solution for my parents' freeze-dried food business that grew into something that can help Canadian food businesses with traceability.
How It Started
TraceIT began three years ago when my parents started a small freeze-dried food business and quickly found themselves overwhelmed with the traceability requirements mandated by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR).
The administrative work was taking up nearly 40% of their weekly hours. When they looked for software solutions, they received quotes ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 for implementation plus $200-500 monthly fees - prices that were completely disconnected from what a small business could justify spending.
With my background in software development, I built the first version of TraceIT over a weekend to help track their ingredient lots and production batches. It was basic but immediately cut their paperwork time in half.
Started
3 years ago
Focus
CFIA traceability compliance for small Canadian food businesses
Mission
Helping food businesses meet regulatory requirements without excessive cost or complexity
My Approach
User-Focused Design
I built TraceIT with my parents in mind, focusing on simplicity and efficiency. Every feature was designed to minimize the time spent on record-keeping while ensuring complete CFIA compliance.
Continuous Refinement
Over three years, we've improved the system based on daily use - adding barcode scanning, one-click recall reports, and supplier management. What used to take days now takes minutes.
Affordability
From day one, I've been committed to making TraceIT affordable for small businesses. The huge gap between what regulators require and what small producers can practically implement is exactly what TraceIT addresses.
Canadian-Specific
Unlike generic systems, TraceIT is specifically designed for Canadian regulations. Every feature is built with CFIA requirements in mind, making compliance straightforward.
Development Journey
Understanding the Problem
I began by studying the CFIA requirements in depth and observing my parents' daily workflow to identify the specific challenges they faced. When CFIA requested a mock recall, it took them almost two full days to compile all the necessary information.
First Version
The first version of TraceIT focused on solving the core traceability requirements: tracking one step back and one step forward, food identification, and record keeping. My parents were the first and most valuable testers, providing immediate feedback on what worked and what didn't.
Refinement & Improvement
Over the next two years, I refined the user interface, added reporting capabilities, enhanced the data management features, and expanded to support different types of food products—all based on real feedback from daily use in my parents' business.
Today's TraceIT
Today's version of TraceIT represents three years of real-world testing in an actual business. It's a mature, practical solution that I'm now making available to help other Canadian food businesses meet their traceability requirements efficiently and affordably.
Try TraceIT For Your Business
After seeing how TraceIT simplified compliance for my parents' freeze-dried food business, I believe it can help your business too. I'm not a large company with investors or sales teams - just someone who solved a problem and wants to share that solution with other Canadian food businesses.
Request a Demo