20201 - Narrative versus Truth

17th Mar 2021 03:34 AM

 
It is said a picture is worth a thousand words. How many facts is a good story able to swallow up? In an age when we all suffer information overload, new narratives and even myths are being created and propelled through social media at break neck speed, suffocating many truths in their wake. It is an irony in this era of multiple information feeds, the distinction between what is fact and what is not becomes ever more difficult for the general public to establish. It creates opportunities for rogue states, politicians, social influencers and communication teams and technologies to spin falsehoods to mainstream on a grain of truth. 
 
Happerley was founded to challenge food storytelling by delivering truth in favour of fiction. We believe it is needed more than ever to deliver an independent means to secure provenance honesty and transparency by empower the consumer to instantly know the supply chain behind their purchases. Happerley sits independently of any assurance or accreditation scheme. It is dedicated to validating and delivering accurate, credible and immediate supply chain transparency to be seen by all and for the benefit of all.

Last year was a learning and consolidation year for Happerley. We have taken advantage of the lockdowns to improve processes, client services, recruit and invest into the the future. I am delighted to share some of these with you. 
 
HATS (Happerley Assessment for Transparent Sustainability)
We are leading the development of arguably the world’s first sustainability guidance for food and drink and other purchases. The project will take into account the whole  lifecycle and be designed to empower consumers to make educated choices at point of sale. 
 
Developing a New Platform to Encompass Sustainability and other Products
In February our software team started developing Platform V2. Among other benefits, this new architecture, harnessing a range of new technologies, will enable Happerley to:
Grow organically using the supplier network
Automate supplier relationship validation processes through the client dashboard
Improve taxonomy for products / ingredients
Facilitate HATS (Happerley Assessment for Transparent Sustsainability). This will contain a number of themes (10) that can feature one or multiple claims. Claims can be applicable to all industries, or specific ones to a business or a product and need to be validated by a competent validator, or can be self certified based on provided evidence.
 
B Corp Status
We are applying for Certified B Corp status. This scheme recognising businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. B Corps are accelerating a global culture shift to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive and sustainable economy.
 
Enshrining Happerley Marque Independence
We are now progressing to have constituted a not for profit entity for the Happerley certification marque. This will ensure Happerley perpetually provides a credible currency of provenance truth for the benefit of all. The Happerley Advisory Board will help oversee this transition.
 
Continue to develop consumer understanding and awareness
Empowering consumers to gain an understanding of the sustainability impacts of a purchase through a variety of initiatives, endorsements, licenses and alliances:
  • #Feedmetruth; Our Feed Me Truth schools campaign, encouraging schools and colleges to turn their supply chains transparent, will resume in February with a programme of activity supported by Co - operative Childcare.
  • 'Provenance Reporter'; We will be actively educating and encouraging consumers to identify misleading or false provenance claims, and reporting them to us by using our Provenance Reporter feature on the Happerley app.
  • Happerley Food Fests; Intrdoducing an event format for farm hosting to help connect families with food, farming and wellbeing.
  • Adding value for Happerley Transparent businesses, organisations and events. We aim to grow the client benefits to becoming Happerley Transparent, and improve our client relationships.
 
We continue to invite all food and drink organisations who help the consumer understand the journey of their food and drink, the opportunity to network into our information hub for free. Through our unique QR code, we want the consumer to be able to discover what every accreditation and certification attached to every entity in the supply chain actually means. 
 
We will be working with more events and festivals to validate the provenance claims of their caterers and / or food and drink vendors, and supporting the credibility of third party schemes and brands wishing to apply their own criteria to our supply chain information.

Matthew Rymer. Happerley Founder