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Staunton Foods & Emydex: A 12 Year Partnership in Precision Pork Processing

When Staunton Foods first partnered with Emydex in 2014, the goal was clear: build a production management platform capable of supporting one of Ireland’s leading pork processing plants with reliability, accuracy, and visibility. Over twelve years later, that decision has shaped a digitally enabled factory environment that continues to evolve and support the company’s growth and reputation for quality.

A Heritage Processor with Modern Ambition

Staunton Foods, based in Timoleague in the heart of West Cork, has long been recognised as one of Ireland’s leading pork processors. Established decades ago and deeply integrated into the regional agricultural economy, the business has always prided itself on quality, animal welfare, and operational integrity.

By 2014, the plant’s throughput and increasing data demands meant its older legacy factory-floor systems supporting kill-line operations, livestock payments, and boning-hall reporting were being pushed to their limits. Stauntons needed a platform capable of meeting modern demands, not just in performance, but also in compliance, traceability, and integration with financial and partner systems.

Introducing a Digital Backbone for the Kill Floor

The first phase of the collaboration focused on modernising kill‑line operations. Emydex introduced structured data capture at lairage, grading, and slaughter points, enabling Staunton Foods to shift from fragmented legacy processes to a single, consistent source of operational truth.

Key benefits from this foundation included:

  • Greater accuracy in livestock payments: Reliable grading, consistent data capture, and clear traceability records helped establish full transparency for producers supplying the plant.
  • A unified view of kill‑line performance: Daily operations became easier to analyse, enabling supervisors to identify issues earlier, reduce variation, and maintain throughput targets.
  • Confidence in compliance and audit readiness: With consistent, structured data in place, Staunton could respond more effectively to retailer, regulatory, and customer audit requirements.

Extending the Platform to the Boning Hall and Beyond

Following the successful stabilisation of kill‑line processes, Staunton Foods extended its Emydex system into the boning hall and downstream production areas. This included support for:

  • Yield reporting and loss identification
  • Stock visibility across raw, WIP, and finished goods
  • Handheld scanning for movement, labelling, and dispatch
  • Packing and palletisation workflows
  • Enhanced traceability linking carcass data to downstream outputs

Operators benefited from simpler workflows and fewer manual touchpoints, while supervisors gained more precise insight into cutting yields, material usage, and batch-level performance.

For a business with high throughput, narrow margins, and strict quality requirements, this transparency has been pivotal.

Integrations that Strengthen the Business

One of Staunton Foods’ most significant long-term advantages has been the integration of Emydex data with financial and partner systems. Over the years, interfaces have been introduced and refined to support:

  • Sage accounting
  • XML data exchange with partner processors and cold stores
  • Automated consolidation of production and commercial data

This connected ecosystem means operations are no longer siloed. Instead, the company benefits from an information flow that joins production, finance, planning, and logistics into a cohesive picture.

Resilience Through Continuous Improvement

What makes the Staunton–Emydex partnership stand out is not only the depth of the system but the consistency of improvements over more than a decade. These have included:

  • Performance tuning to keep pace with throughput growth
  • Software updates and compatibility enhancements
  • Adjustments to accommodate new commercial requirements
  • Improvements in handheld scanning and data‑capture workflows
  • Extensions to reporting and operational visibility

This pattern of steady enhancement has ensured the system never stagnates and continues to evolve alongside Staunton’s needs.

A Perspective from Staunton Foods Management

For us, reliability is everything. The plant moves fast, and we need systems that keep pace without getting in the way. What Emydex has delivered over the years is consistency: consistent data, consistent performance, and consistent support. It gives our team confidence on the kill floor, in the boning hall, and in the office. Emydex has grown with us. We consider it an integral part of how we manage our business today”
John O’Regan, Staunton Foods Management

Unlocking Smarter Decision‑Making

Today, Staunton Foods uses its Emydex environment not just as a transactional production tool but as an operational intelligence platform. Supervisors and managers benefit from:

  • Clearer trend analysis based on multi-year data
  • Better forecasting informed by accurate yields and run‑rate insights
  • More proactive decision‑making informed by real-time visibility
  • Faster resolution of issues uncovered by transparent data flows

This has helped strengthen margins, control waste, and improve operational discipline across the factory.

Supporting a Sustainable, Future-Ready Irish Processor

As the Irish pork sector faces competitive pressures, regulatory expectations, and rapid shifts in market conditions, the partnership between Staunton Foods and Emydex provides a stable foundation for continued growth.

Staunton’s commitment to maintaining a modern, data-driven production environment ensures the business remains resilient, responsive, and aligned with evolving industry demands.

A Partnership Built to Last

Twelve years on from the original go-live, Staunton Foods continues to rely on Emydex as a key strategic partner, not just a software vendor. The relationship is defined by collaboration, mutual trust, and a shared goal of maintaining one of Ireland’s most respected pork-processing operations.

The result is a quiet, steady success story: a modern MES driving real value in one of Ireland’s most traditional industries.

Interested in how a data-driven MES could support your processing operation?
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Forresters Chicken: From Paper-Based Processes to Real-Time Visibility with Emydex

Processing over 1.4 million packs of chicken every week and supplying all major UK retailers, Forresters Chicken operates in an environment where efficiency, quality and traceability are critical to daily operations.

With more than 50 years of history, the business had grown significantly. But as production volumes increased, so did the complexity of managing quality, performance and compliance across the factory floor.

Like many food processors, Forresters reached a point where traditional, paper-based processes could no longer support the pace and scale of the operation.

Before Emydex, all of our quality control processes were paper-based. Everything was pen and paper, reams and reams of paper, and traceability was a nightmare.”

Angus Dilliway-Parry - Owner / R&D Director

Operational Visibility Before Digital Transformation

Paper-based quality checks and manual records made it difficult for teams to gain a clear, real-time view of what was happening across production.

From a management perspective, this lack of visibility impacted decision-making and operational efficiency.

From a management point of view, it was difficult to see the full picture at any one time.”

John Acornley - Finance Director

Without instant access to reliable data, reacting quickly to issues, monitoring performance and meeting production expectations became increasingly challenging.

The Turning Point: Moving from Paper to Real-Time Data

The introduction of Emydex marked a fundamental shift in how Forresters managed production and quality. What was once fragmented and manual became digital, structured and immediately accessible.

The difference between before Emydex and after Emydex is like night and day. The access to information is phenomenal.”

John Acornley - Finance Director

Real-time access to production and quality data transformed daily operations across the business.

Embedding Data into Everyday Operations

Today, Emydex is used consistently across the factory floor and beyond. Production planners, operators and managers rely on the system daily to support informed decision-making.

The planners use it day in, day out. The factory uses it day in, day out. We have screens up giving the staff and managers the data they need.”

Nick Cooper - Operations Director

This visibility extends beyond the physical factory.

Even if you’re not in the factory, you can pull up Emydex information on your computer and see exactly what’s going on.”

Nick Cooper - Operations Director

 

Turning Insight into Continuous Improvement

With accurate, real-time data available instantly, Forresters can analyse performance, challenge inefficiencies and drive continuous improvement.

Production metrics such as packing rates, throughput and giveaways are no longer retrospective. They are visible, measurable and actionable.

This data-led approach supports ongoing improvements across efficiency, yield and performance.

We use it as a tool to improve what we’re doing, efficiencies, line rates and giveaways.”

Nick Cooper - Operations Director

Stronger Traceability, Supported by Partnership

Alongside efficiency gains, traceability has significantly improved, providing confidence across audits, compliance and day-to-day operations.

Equally important is the long-standing relationship behind the technology.

Our partnership with Emydex has been fantastic for more than a decade. They’ve been responsive, innovative and collaborative.”

John Acornley - Finance Director

The value of that partnership extends beyond the system itself, offering accessible support and a personal approach.

Looking Back, Looking Forward

Reflecting on the journey, it’s clear that Emydex has become embedded in how Forresters operates.

Looking back now, you think, how did we manage without it before?”

Nick Cooper - Operations Director

Today, the business benefits from real-time visibility, improved efficiency and a stronger foundation for future growth.

It’s been a really good thing for our business. We really appreciate what Emydex does to help Forresters run efficiently every day.”

Nick Cooper - Operations Director

 

Want to see how real-time visibility and traceability can support your operation?
Learn more about Emydex’s Manufacturing Execution and Quality Management solutions or contact our team to discuss your requirements.

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Rising Tide of Food Recalls: What’s driving the Surge in Ireland and the US?

Over the past few weeks, both Ireland and the United States have seen a sharp increase in food product recalls. From Listeria and Salmonella outbreaks to undeclared allergens and metal fragments, the incidents span a wide range of categories and risks. While no single company or product line is solely responsible, the pattern is clear: food safety is under pressure.

As a provider of traceability and quality management solutions to the global food industry, Emydex is closely monitoring these developments. Here’s a breakdown of the recent recalls, followed by insight into the factors driving this rise in recalls.

Ireland: A Wave of Microbial Contamination

Ready Meals and Listeria

Over 140 ready-made meals were recalled due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Distributed across multiple well-known Irish retailers, the outbreak has resulted in nine confirmed cases and one fatality.

Leafy Greens Under Scrutiny

Separate from the ready meal incident, several batches of spinach, rocket, and mixed leaves were pulled from shelves due to Listeria detection. These recalls highlight vulnerabilities in fresh produce supply chains.

Salmonella in Turkey Burgers

A batch of turkey burgers was recalled for potential Salmonella contamination. Though the use-by date had passed, the product was suitable for freezing, prompting warnings to check home freezers.

United States: A Broader Spectrum of Risks

Undeclared Allergens in Butter

Over 64,000 lbs of butter were recalled due to undeclared milk, a major allergen. The recall was classified as Class II, indicating moderate health risk.

Metal Fragments in Frozen Beef

A major recall was initiated for frozen ground beef due to suspected metal fragments. Other recalls involved foreign material contamination, including glass and plastic.

Salmonella in Pantry Staples

Products including dried black fungus, pistachio cacao spread, and frozen sprouted legumes were recalled after Salmonella was detected during routine inspections.

Listeria in Mushrooms and Tuna Salads

Several mushroom products and tuna salads were affected due to Listeria contamination, traced back to breadcrumbs supplied to manufacturers.

Botulism Risk in Salted Fish

Improper evisceration of dry salted fish led to a recall over potential Clostridium botulinum contamination.

Why Are Recalls Increasing?

Enhanced Detection Technologies

The rise in food product recalls is not necessarily a sign of declining food safety standards. Instead, Emydex believes it reflects enhanced surveillance and testing protocols implemented by regulatory bodies:

  • FSAI (Ireland) has intensified microbiological testing, particularly for Listeria in ready-to-eat foods, enabling earlier detection and broader precautionary recalls [1].
  • FDA (USA) has introduced stringent traceability rules under the Food Safety Modernisation Act (FSMA), requiring rapid access to batch-level data and critical tracking events [2].

These improvements mean that contamination is being identified faster and more accurately, allowing for swift action to protect public health.

Risks of Not Having Robust Traceability

Without a comprehensive traceability system, food producers face significant risks:

  • Delayed response timesduring contamination events increase the likelihood of consumer harm.
  • Regulatory penaltiesfor non-compliance with traceability mandates.
  • Reputational damagethat can erode customer trust and brand value.
  • Operational chaos, including costly product withdrawals and production halts.

In today’s regulatory landscape, traceability is not optional – it’s a strategic imperative.

How Emydex Helps

At Emydex, we empower food processors and manufacturers with real-time traceability, quality assurance, and recall management tools. Our systems help clients:

  • Track ingredients and finished productsby batch, supplier, and production shift.
  • Generate instant traceability reportsto isolate affected products within seconds.
  • Automate quality checksand compliance alerts
  • Respond swiftlyto recall events with complete visibility
  • Comply with regulatory requirementsfrom bodies like the FSAI and FDA.
  • Integrate seamlesslywith existing ERP and production systems.

This level of visibility and control is essential for managing recalls efficiently and minimising disruption.

Let’s Talk

If you’re looking to strengthen your food safety protocols or streamline your recall response, Emydex is here to help.

Reach out to our team or visit https://www.emydex.com/contact/to learn more.


Written by: David McMahon, CEO, Emydex Technology

 

[1] Update (2) to recall of various branded prepared meals and side dishes …

[2] FSMA Final Rule on Requirements of Additional Traceability Records Traceability

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The 4 Hidden Risks of Poor Traceability and How to Eliminate Them

In the food processing industry, traceability is no longer just about compliance. For leaders, it is a strategic capability that directly impacts ROI, brand trust and operational resilience.

Yet many processors still rely on outdated or fragmented systems, exposing themselves to risks that are avoidable. If your business cannot trace a product by batch, shift, supplier or site instantly, you are likely facing more than just inefficiency.

1. Product Recalls

According to Consumer Brands Association, the average cost of a product recall is 10 million dollars. That does not include damage to brand reputation or customer relationships.

Without real-time traceability, identifying and isolating affected batches becomes slow and imprecise. The longer it takes to act, the greater the exposure.

2. Regulatory Non-Compliance

Many countries enforce strict regulations regarding food traceability. Failure to comply with these requirements can lead to legal penalties, failed audits, loss of operating licenses and serious reputational damage.

As outlined by the Food Safety Institute, traceability is a core pillar of modern food safety management, and weak systems are a risk few businesses can afford to take.

3. Increased Risk of Fraud

Lack of traceability opens the door to fraudulent activities, including mislabelling, product substitution or deliberate manipulation of records. These practices threaten not only food safety, but also consumer trust and business credibility.

Robust traceability systems help protect against intentional and unintentional breaches by increasing transparency and accountability throughout the supply chain.

4. Damaged Brand Trust

In today’s global food industry, transparency builds competitive advantage. Customers, partners and regulators expect clear, real-time data that supports both traceability and accountability.

One traceability gap can compromise years of brand investment and erode long-standing relationships.

Smart Investments in Traceability in Food Processing

Top-performing food processors treat traceability as part of their strategy. They invest in:

  • Real-time traceability
  • Traceability across sites
  • Batch-level traceability
  • Audit-ready traceability

This level of visibility allows them to mitigate risk, act faster, and strengthen performance across every plant.

How Emydex Helps

The Traceability Reporting module from Emydex is designed specifically for food processors operating in complex, multi-site environments.

It gives your team fast, accurate and reliable traceability, without manual searching or data gaps. With Emydex, you can:

  • Run full trace reports in seconds
  • Filter by product, supplier, time or location
  • Investigate incidents while production continues
  • Meet audit and compliance requirements with confidence

And because it is part of the wider Emydex platform, it integrates seamlessly with MES, ERP and quality systems for total control.

Time to Take Control

If your current traceability system is slowing your team down, exposing your business to risk, or making compliance more difficult than it should be, it may be time to rethink the strategy.

At Emydex, we help food processors simplify traceability across complex operations, providing the visibility, speed and confidence your teams need.

To learn more, contact Emydex at any of our global market offices in Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa or North America.

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Emydex Showcase Cutting-Edge Solutions at IPPE 2025

Emydex at IPPE 2025​

Emydex Technology is excited to announce our participation in the International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) 2025, taking place from January 28th to 30th in Atlanta, USA. Following a highly successful debut at IPPE 2024, we are thrilled to return and showcase our latest innovations in packaging, processing, and quality management.

Watch the video below summarising our highlights and reflections at the show.

Live Demonstrations of Packaging and Labelling Systems

Our CEO, David McMahon, along with our Team Lead for North America, Cody Musclow, will be present at the BAADER booth C29159.

Over the course of three days, we will be demonstrating our state-of-the-art software solutions, including live demonstrations of our latest Box Packing and Labelling system, as well as our Electronic Quality Management System (EQMS). These systems have been successfully implemented in leading companies such as Murray’s Chickens in New York, whom we first met at IPPE 2024.

Emydex team at IPPE 2025_emydex-ippe-2005-03

The IPPE is the world’s largest annual poultry and egg, meat, and animal food industry event, attracting over 30,000 attendees and 1,400 exhibitors. It provides a unique platform for industry professionals to explore the latest products, services, research, processes, and technologies. This year, we are particularly excited to highlight our collaboration with BAADER, showcasing our combined digitization solutions for poultry processors.

Emydex team at IPPE 2025

If you are attending IPPE, we invite you to visit us at the BAADER booth to learn more about our innovative solutions. To arrange an appointment and schedule a software demonstration, please reach out to Cody Musclow at cody.musclow@emydex.com.

We look forward to seeing you at IPPE 2025 and demonstrating how Emydex can help enhance your production processes with our cutting-edge technology.

Find your way to our booth!

Emydex team at IPPE 2025_emydex-ippe-2025-where-to-find-us

 

If you want to learn more – contact Emydex in any of our global market offices in Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, or North America

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Emydex Software: A Game-Changer for Beef Processors

Emydex, a leading provider of software solutions for the meat processing industry, is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2024.

For over two decades, Emydex Beef Processing Software has been transforming how leading meat processors operate across the globe. Trusted by industry leaders like Dawn Meats, Central Agri Group, and Ashbourne Meats, Emydex delivers robust, adaptable solutions that improve efficiency, traceability, and productivity throughout the beef supply chain.

Ashbourne Meats in Ireland, an Emydex customer for eight years, praised the Emydex team for their reliability, friendliness, and professionalism. Donal Houlihan, Operations Manager, said, “The Emydex team have an excellent understanding of the Meat Industry. The system is extremely user-friendly, allowing a smooth working environment across all our production lines. Their technology constantly meets our needs in an ever-evolving industry.” read full story.

 

Central Agri Group in Victoria, Australia, has been an Emydex customer for eight years. The Managing Director, Rami Koyu, commended Emydex for its smooth rollout and the positive response from operators. He said, “The Emydex roll-out was one of the smoothest IT system rollouts I have ever been involved in.” read full story.

 

Dawn Meats Group in Ireland, an Emydex customer for twenty years, praised Emydex for its agility. Shane Slattery, Group CIO, said, “For twenty years, Dawn Meats and Emydex have been in a symbiotic partnership, during which time the Emydex solutions have been able to be quickly adapted to changes within both our industry and business.” read full story.

 

Eurofarm Foods in Ireland, an Emydex customer for fourteen years, commended Emydex for its ‘can-do’ attitude as well as excellent helpdesk support. Ciaran Boyle, General Manager, said, “More recently, Emydex were also there to support our business in the immediate aftermath of a cyber-attack on the business in Sept 2021. This was a phenomenal result to say the least.” read full story.

 

Harvey Beef in Western Australia, an Emydex customer for nine years, praised the Emydex team for their willingness to understand their problems and look at solutions. Mike Stephenson, Head of Technology, said, “The team are great to work with and always willing to understand our problems and look at solutions to improve the way our Emydex is integrated with our business.” read full story.

 

Kepak Group in Ireland & UK, an Emydex customer for seventeen years, commended Emydex for its support in their business growth. Jeremy O’Callaghan, Group CIO, said, “Emydex has been an integral part of the system delivery team for Kepak Group for almost two decades, supporting us in our business growth across multiple sites in both Ireland and the UK.” read full story.

 

Liffey Meats in Ireland, a customer operating Emydex in two of its plants, commended Emydex for its ‘can-do’ attitude. Derek McDermott, Chief Financial Officer, said, “Having worked with Dave and his team for the past fourteen years, I can say the key difference with Emydex is their ‘can do’ attitude.” read full story.

 

MeatCo Namibia, an Emydex customer in Southern Africa for thirteen years, praised Emydex for its fit-for-purpose product. Grant Mitchell, IT Manager: Production Systems, said, “Emydex is a Fit for Purpose product, which complements our Business.” read full story.

 

Silver Fern Farms, operating fourteen plants in New Zealand, has been an Emydex customer for four years, currently operating Emydex in two of its plants with further plant rollouts in progress. Matt Ballard, Chief Transformation Officer, highlighted Emydex’s ability to provide greater traceability and process controls, saying, “Emydex has shown it can provide greater traceability and process controls that are positive in meeting Silver Fern Farms needs over the longer term.” read full story.

 

Wilson Hellaby Ltd, with two plants in New Zealand, has been an Emydex customer for three years. Justin Lee, Chief Financial Officer, commended Emydex’s innovative approach to software development, saying, “In both instances, we were able to employ Emydex’s innovative approach to software development to solve challenges within our industry where off-the-shelf solutions just don’t exist.” read full story.

 

These testimonials from just ten of Emydex’s global beef customers highlight the significant benefits that Emydex software brings to beef processors, including smooth rollouts, greater traceability, innovative solutions, and excellent support. These customers have been working with Emydex for 119 years collectively across 36 plants.

Over the past two years, a dedicated team at Emydex HQ in Dublin, Ireland, has collaborated with numerous longstanding beef processing customers to develop a new Industry Standard software solution for the Beef Processing industry. This Vexillum (Latin for ‘Standard’) project aims to create a comprehensive, ready-to-use Manufacturing Execution System (MES) tailored for beef processors. The initial rollout of this system will be undertaken by four Emydex beef processing customers, deploying it across more than 20 beef primary processing facilities in Ireland and the UK.

As Emydex celebrates its 20th anniversary, it looks forward to continuing to provide top-notch solutions for the beef processing industry.

If you want to learn more – contact Emydex in any of our global market offices in Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, or North America.

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