As the organic soda market evolves, Long Island, N.Y.-based producer Fresh Fizz Sodas is staying on top of traceability regulations with easy-to-use, effective tools. After using a spreadsheet solution for its materials requirements planning (MRP) requirements, Fresh Fizz switched to an MRPeasy system and created more balance in its tracking system, according to a release from the manufacturing software company.
Fresh Fizz produces sodas without additives and refined sugars. The company uses natural ingredients and sweetens its beverages with honey, a formula that makes regulatory compliance important.
“Operating in a highly regulated industry, we need to track which ingredient lots go into which finished products and which customers bought those products,” says Yoni Schwartz, President of Fresh Fizz Sodas. “This full traceability was also a key requirement for acquiring an organic food certification.”
The company used spreadsheets during its first years of operations, but Schwartz says Fresh Fizz needed a solution to handle its traceability needs without being too complex. Schwartz points to MRPeasy’s ability to let companies start using its software without a demo and sales pitch as a deciding factor. The software has self-education materials freely available, which allowed Fresh Fizz to further experiment with the system.
“By checking out the educational materials, you get more time on your free trial,” Schwartz adds.
Fresh Fizz began implementing MRPeasy in March 2024, and within a few weeks, the system went live. Aspects such as setting up bills of materials (BOMs) with product quality in mind were challenging, but with some thinking and the use of MRPeasy’s online resources, the Fresh Fizz team worked through the kinks.
