CUSTOMERS of an online food retailer will be able to use their phones to trace their meat’s journey from farm to fork.

Goldhill Organics and its supplier Blackmore Vale Butchery are the first meat retailer and independent butcher to use a new mobile app called Followthisfood.

Customers will be able to get detailed information about the provenance and sustainability of their meat.

Scanning a QR code on the pack will give information about where the meat comes from, who produced it and how it was processed along the way.

Blandford-based Goldhill has introduced the software across its grass-fed meat and meat box range. It says the app will also enable the retailer to discover more about the small farms and independent butchers that work together to produce grass-fed meat.

The software was developed by Agrantec, a Bristol-based food supply chain management specialist, in association with Blackmore Vale Butchery, which supplies Goldhill’s meat.

The retailer says Followthisfood allows the tracking of each cut in a way that is not possible with more widely available meat.

It also delivers information about breeds and their characteristics, along with articles about animal husbandry, food production and farming.

Nick Somper, co-founder of Goldhill Organics, said: “Providing high-quality, local produce from small producers in a highly transparent way is the very essence of what Goldhill does and Followthisfood really reinforces that very strong commitment.

“Buying locally sourced, quality meat from small, local farms that use traditional animal husbandry and welfare methods is hugely important to our customers and Followthisfood gives them fantastic engagement with our producer farms.

“We have all read about misleading labelling and the use of fictional farm brands so Followthisfood provides our customers with the trust and confidence that the food they are buying is exactly what it claims to be.”

Goldhill was established by Jane and Nick Somper in August 2013 and delivers organic vegetable fruit boxes, organic juicing boxes, non-organic grass-fed meat and meat and veg boxes and more.

Blackmore Vale Butchery is based in West Stour and is operated by the Keen family. It was recognised for outstanding contribution to local food development in the Taste of Dorset Awards 2014.