Körber has launched STEPLogic Tracker, a food traceability platform aimed squarely at operators scrambling to meet FDA requirements under FSMA Section 204. The rule mandates that companies on the Food Traceability List maintain detailed records — covering receiving, transformation, and shipping — and produce them within a 24-hour window during a recall event. For food manufacturers, co-packers, and distributors still running traceability on spreadsheets or disconnected ERP modules, this is a compliance gap that is no longer theoretical.
STEPLogic Tracker is built around lot-level recordkeeping and what Körber calls "food genealogy" — the end-to-end chain of custody from inbound ingredient to outbound shipment. The 24-hour recall retrieval requirement is the operational pressure point most operators underestimate. Retrieving complete lot history across multiple facilities or co-manufacturing partners in under a day is a logistics and data-architecture problem as much as a compliance one. Körber is positioning STEPLogic Tracker as a structured workflow layer on top of existing operations rather than a full platform replacement, which matters for operators who cannot afford a rip-and-replace technology cycle ahead of a regulatory deadline.
The traceability technology vendor landscape has become crowded fast. Suppliers including rfxcel, FoodLogiQ (now part of Trustwell), and TraceGains have been active in this space, and major ERP vendors have bolted on traceability modules with varying depth. What differentiates Körber's entry is its explicit focus on day-to-day operational workflow rather than compliance reporting as an afterthought. Operators evaluating traceability vendors should pressure-test any solution on two scenarios: a mock FDA records request with a 24-hour clock running, and a multi-node lot recall that crosses a co-manufacturing relationship. Those two scenarios expose most gaps quickly. For more on how operators are approaching food-safety tech procurement, see our coverage of AI procurement tools reshaping food-safety vendor selection and operator intelligence on FSMA readiness across foodservice supply chains.
For procurement and operations leadership, the signal here is that the FSMA 204 compliance window is forcing a technology decision that should have been a strategic one. Companies that treat traceability as a records-management checkbox will find themselves buying point solutions under deadline pressure — which is how operators end up with fragmented data architectures that fail exactly when a recall happens. STEPLogic Tracker's emphasis on structured workflows tied to receiving, transformation, and shipping suggests Körber is targeting the mid-market food manufacturer and distributor segment that has outgrown manual recordkeeping but hasn't committed to an enterprise supply-chain suite. That is a meaningful segment, and the regulatory calendar is doing Körber's demand generation for it.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
