3 ways for food industry based on Blockchain

Nowadays, TRUST between people is very fragile. Even if it is destroyed only once, people will never forget that experience. Especially in the food sector, trust is much more important.

At the end of 2015, due to the outbreak of E. coli, the profits of Mexico's Chipotle Company decreased by 44% compared with the same period of the previous year. Since then, even if the company planned to give millions of coupons to attract customers and provide free things, it is difficult to completely restore the trust of customers.

Blockchain-based solutions have been used in industries such as pharmaceuticals and gold production. Currently, they can also be applied to the food industry. Here's how the technology can regain consumer confidence and re-establish consumers' trust in the food industry.

Food Sources

Every year, 1 out of 10 people suffer from food problems and 400,000 people die from it. The reason is that it takes too long to recall or resolve pollution problems in isolated products in the supply chain.

And now, IBM and Walmart are working hard to solve this problem. They are working together to improve Walmart's food tracking capabilities in China. Under Walmart's existing system, IBM and Walmart estimated it took days or even weeks to track the entire flow of a pack of mangoes from the farm to Walmart stores.

For example, mangoes can be tracked within seconds with a blockchain-based tracking solution,.

This technology is beneficial to everyone in the food industry. When foodborne illness occurs, the blockchain can immediately track the source of the affected items and quickly find problems so that restaurants or other stakeholders can remove these contaminated products from menus, shelves, and the supply chain.

Suppose there are dozens of customers suffering from listeriosis after eating at a restaurant. The restaurant then tests the food and discovers that the raw vegetables are the culprit. Immediately after, this restaurant uses a blockchain-based tracking solution that allows the restaurant to track the serial number associated with the shipment of the raw vegetables, return to the dealership, and then trace back to the original supplier. If the restaurant finds out which of the specific batches of vegetables were contaminated, the suppliers of these vegetables are immediately marked on the blockchain and anyone who buys them would be aware of the danger.

Of course, there are two prerequisites. First, each box or produce package must be uniquely identifiable. Second, participants in the supply chain transferred the custody of these products.

Product Label

It is a popular marketing strategy that make a label shows the product is organic and non-additive. Yet have you ever wondered what these labels mean? Who will decide what is organic? How do businesses do it, can we believe it?

Some companies have corresponding requirements for confirming product labels. For example, if some are concerned with the verification of food sources for dairy products, meat, and protein, they will check the soil to ensure the organic nature of the produce. 

But the blockchain will go even further. This technology will combine the regulatory with consumer needs and will ensure the authenticity of the marketing statement. The existing certification and audit reports will be registered on the blockchain to prove the reliability of these claims.

Once we have the support of the participants in the supply chain, we can have more companies with good ethics. And making false statements or mislead the product through a distributed ledger tracking system will be eliminated. If consumers know that a company's label is supported by a trackable, immutable blockchain system, then consumers' trust in the company will increase significantly.

Farm and Distributor Information

In the food supply chain, blockchain solutions are not only beneficial to consumers but to dealers since it allows farmers and producers to access commodity prices and market data in time. When farmers get more favorable market information, they will become more competitive and productive.

For example, Block Commodities recently announced a partnership with the Global Market Trading Group to create a blockchain-based platform for the African commodity market. The platform will help farmers in sub-Saharan Africa connect with buyers and brokers so that farmers can sell their crops for better prices.

In the end, more and more people will know the food clearly and hope to choose reliable one for themselves and their families. Blockchain technology will help them achieve this goal.

Source: 7tin

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