Share-ify Offers Convenience and Security in Document Sharing

At its core, Share-ify is a subscription-based service that helps companies along the supply chain share documents easily and securely with their customers and suppliers.

The concept was launched in 1983 as part of a larger company and was spun off in 2017 as a separate entity. While it offers its services across many business sectors, Chief Operating Officer Angela Nardone said the company began in the produce sector in the realm of food safety and compliance, and those roots run deep.

Angela Nardone, Chief Operating Officer, Share-ify

“We have staff members who have worked in fresh produce for 35 years,” she said. “If you scan our leadership team, you will see we have a deep level of produce experience.”

In explaining the company’s many different services, Nardone called Share-ify an “extended technology partner” for any company along the supply chain. It helps organize and share documents so that member companies can provide evidence that their practices are in line with the standards they claim. Clearly this is an important service in the produce world as companies tout their certifications, be it USDA Organic, Rain Forest Alliance, Fair Trade, GlobalGap, and many others.

The company’s website notes that its “Documents” feature gives its clients “the ability to manage contracts, licenses, permits, audits, and more and to determine who has access to see or print these documents. Each of these can be managed by document version, expiration, and user access.” In addition, managing documents to meet regulatory requirements is completely automated.

“We have staff members who have worked in fresh produce for 35 years. If you scan our leadership team, you will see we have a deep level of produce experience.” - Angela Nardone

Share-ify also offers analytical services, such as comparing suppliers by doing a deep dive into the data. Nardone explained that one client recently wanted to evaluate its supplier partners for a specific commodity. Share-ify was already keeping track of the product inspections, so it delved into the data and compared the performance of 10 suppliers on volume and other measures.

“In this case, we discovered that six of the suppliers were doing 20 percent of the business while four suppliers accounted for 80 percent,” she said. “The client was able to immediately eliminate six suppliers and do a deeper dive to determine if they really need all four of the others.”

Nardone noted that this example illustrates one of the biggest challenges that the average supply chain company has when analyzing its own data. “The problem is they have too much data, and they don’t quite know what to look at,” she said, adding that Share-ify can take the data and boil it down to what is important for the particular task at hand.

Another service offered by the company is “Ver-ify Product Inspections.” This feature helps companies with product inspections at receiving and shipping. For evaluating fresh produce inspections, the data-gathering feature can layer USDA grading standards with a customer’s product specifications.

Managing a company’s Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) program and sustainability efforts and successes is another service that Share-ify offers. Again, a company’s claims can be compared to its performance to make sure they are aligned.

“The problem is they have too much data, and they don’t quite know what to look at,” Angela Nardone said, adding that Share-ify can take the data and boil it down to what is important for the particular task at hand.

Nardone noted that organic produce is dear to her heart. “In our family, we have a big interest in eating organics. It’s a passion of mine,” she said. “At Share-ify, we definitely like to promote organics.”

In fact, she said the company has about 500 organic growers on its platform, and it is committed to growing that base. “We would like to make a special offer to your readers,” Nardone said. “We would like to offer a free 12-month subscription to smaller growers, so they can check it out and see what value we can offer.”

Noting that the National Organic Program's (NOP) new Strengthening Organic Enforcement rule will cause more firms to seek USDA certified organic status, Nardone said she believes Share-ify can help in that task. Share-ify, of course, is not a certifier, but it can help a company find and collect the important documents that it needs for certification and share those documents with its certifier and customers.

“In our family, we have a big interest in eating organics. It’s a passion of mine. At Share-ify, we definitely like to promote organics. … We would like to make a special offer to your readers. We would like to offer a free 12-month subscription to smaller growers, so they can check it out and see what value we can offer.” - Angela Nardone

Nardone said there are many different subscription levels that potential clients can choose from when working with Share-ify, depending on their level of need. She added that the monthly subscription fee is generally “cheaper than a cell phone.”