The global food supply chain has evolved into an extremely complex series of stages that involves farming, harvesting, processing, packaging and distribution, with many other steps in between. Yet it still lacks a key ingredient – namely, trust.
Studies show there’s a distinct lack of trust in the food supply chain, and consumers can never be quite sure what has gone into their favorite dish, where it comes from and whether or not it’s really healthy for them to eat.
In order to create more trust in the food supply chain, a new approach is needed that’s based on traceability, transparency and decentralization. It’s an approach that can be best enabled with the adoption of blockchain.
The blockchain is best known as the database platform that underpins cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, but its true nature is much more versatile. Blockchain is a decentralized ledger made up of multiple participating nodes that must work together to achieve consensus. This means it’s immutable, meaning that data entered into it cannot be changed.
It offers a unique way for information to be shared in processes that involve multiple parties – such as the food supply chain. It creates a unified and trusted view of the entire supply chain, with guarantees that the information it presents is accurate. There are two main ways in which blockchain can improve the global food supply chain: It can help to ascertain the origin of products, it can track the ingredients used in each product. Here’s how:
Establishing the origin of products
It’s quite likely that you have no idea where the ingredients in that sandwich you’re eating came from. With blockchain, we can easily record the origin of each one. By adding an RFID, QR code or barcode to each ingredient, we can record what happens to it at every step of the supply chain. For instance, the farmer who first grows and harvests it can record data on the environment it was produced in, crop conditions and any pesticides that were used on the product. Blockchain can also record information on how it was produced – for example, if eggs come from a factory or free range farm.
These products can then be updated at every stage as they wind their way through the logistics chain, being processed, distributed to wholesalers, from there to retailers, and finally into our cupboards and refrigerators.
By recording all of this data onto the blockchain, we create a fail-proof audit trail for every kind of foodstuff, providing a way for consumers to understand the origin of each product. Brands can also prove the sustainability of their products. This can be a unique selling point for many items. Simply put a barcode or QR code on the packaging, and consumers can verify it for themselves.
Tracking ingredients
Besides tracking products to their origin, we can go a step further and track the individual ingredients that make up each foodstuff. This provides numerous benefits to the food industry. Should a product turn out to be contaminated, the manufacturer has an easy and effective way to locate which ingredient caused the problem and which batches of the product were affected. This can save hours of time and millions of dollars in money spent chasing down paper trails to ensure no contaminated products fall into the hands of consumers. The recall process becomes much simpler with blockchain. In case any contaminated products do reach consumers, the company can issue an alert and tell consumers to scan any items that might be affected in order to check. Consumers can verify the item with a quick scan.
By tracking each individual ingredient that’s used in food products, we can also protect consumers against fraud. Surprisingly, fraud in the food industry is prevalent. Two great examples of this are the avocado and olive oil industries, where fraudsters can take advantage of consumer’s ignorance to generate profit margins as high as 2,000%.
Most consumers have no idea how to tell the difference between real olive oil and something that simply claims to be the real deal but isn’t. They’re forced to rely on the manufacturer’s labels only, but many will make fraudulent claims. Other problems include certain foodstuffs being presented as kosher or halal when they are not.
Blockchain can hit the food fraudsters hard by making the individual ingredients fully traceable and the data behind them tamperproof. If the supply of each ingredient is recorded onto the distributed ledger, it becomes much harder for criminals to manipulate things and make false claims about their products. Food producers that offer this kind of transparency can do much to restore trust in the food supply chain.
Blockchain-based trust in action
The good news is that many brands are committed to creating this trust, and with partnerships they are making blockchain-based food data more widely available. For consumers in Australia, the popular consumer rewards app Shping is now collaborating with IBM Food Trust to provide detailed traceability and information on the origin of many thousands of different foodstuffs.
Shping’s app allows consumers to generate rewards each time they scan an item’s barcode to look at information about its nutritional value, and provides further incentives whenever they upload a valid receipt for each product they purchase. Through its partnership with IBM Food Trust, it now goes further, documenting the product’s journey throughout the entire supply chain. It provides consumers with a simple way to ensure the foods and groceries they’re buying are authentic, with details on the origin of each ingredient that goes into it.
IBM Food Trust is built on the blockchain, and each product is tracked using a GS1 Datamatrix barcode. It works with hundreds of well known global brands that are committed to this level of transparency.
Shping, which has a strong presence in the Australian market, is also built on the blockchain, enabling it to reward consumers with cryptocurrency tokens that can be redeemed for cash or used to buy discounted items. In this way, it pays for consumers to embrace greater transparency and trust.
