Icebreaker is a company that makes wool clothing. They provide a page where you can enter a code from your clothing to find out all kinds of information about its “source”:

Your unique Baacode will let you see the living conditions of the high country sheep that produced the merino fibre in your Icebreaker garment, meet the farmers who are custodians of this astonishing landscape, and follow every step of the supply chain. We’re sure you’ll find the experience as inspiring as we do. Enjoy your journey back to the source.

“Traceability” seems like a really good way to get a handle on the information that has to be displayed on packaging like sulfur, or nuts, or types of sweeteners. The use in garments is nice too, but seems more like a novelty than a necessity.

I wonder if anyone has invented a device that could scan a barcode, identify the product and then immediately advise whether the contents and/or source is suitable for purchase. That could save shoppers significant time/effort and help drive change in the market.

On the flip side, I wonder if Icebreaker monitors who checks their BaaCode and from where.

The demo code they offer for testing is 213C3F390 and the URL seems to support automated/scripted testing, like this:

https://www.icebreaker.com/site/baacode/trace.html?language=en&baacode=213C3F390

How long before someone runs every alphanumeric and downloads their database? Maybe there’s no threat. I mean what could anyone do with a database of wool fiber supply chain information? Could suppliers use it to reveal competitive info and set prices?