TrustBIX blog: How Blockchain Can Support Food Supply Chain Management

Imagine a distributed set of computers, openly accessible to trusted parties, that each serves as synchronized ledgers of reliable information regarding transactions taking place amongst a group of business partners

These computers also allow you to execute workflows to fulfill pre-agreed contracts involving numerous parties without relying on separate or centralized systems and databases so that no data migration and reconciliation is required. Once transactions are recorded, no changes to those records may be made.

A distributed ledger with no centralized control, immutable records, and an ability to execute transactions amongst parties based on “smart” contracts are all potential features of blockchain solutions.

“The two blockchain platforms, BIX and TT Chain, will work together to provide customers with precise information about the transactions at any given stage of a supply chain“

 

First developed for cryptocurrency and token exchange networks, blockchains can now bring benefits to all industries facing the challenges of creating a transparent and tamperproof end-to-end history of the information and financial transactions associated with the flow of physical goods. 

According to Statista and Accenture, worldwide spending on blockchain solutions is expected to reach over $US 12 billion by 2022 and $US 18 billion by 2024 with a CAGR of >70%. Given the ability to track any product along its lifecycle, blockchain can be a solution applied across supply chains in many industries.

Today, we are looking into blockchain technology’s potential application to agri-food supply chain management.

Supply Chain Essential Features: Resilience through Trust

2020 proved that resilient supply chains are necessary for economies and businesses. In times of disruption, trust matters more than ever. Businesses and consumers want brands and companies to ensure product authenticity, and supply chains need to respond by evolving into better-integrated supply chain networks, where information about the attributes and financial value of products flowing through the supply chain is more transparent.

A blockchain applied to an agri-food supply chain can help improve resilience because it requires parties to agree in advance on a common way of structuring transactions, contracts, and workflow. These agreements help reduce the friction of disputes or reconciliation that often accompanies product custody transfers with more traditional approaches to business. Reducing friction at times of custody transfer can also minimize waste or product shrinkage, where the freshness of food impacts food quality at retail.

Supply Chain Essential Features: Traceability and Transparency 

When it comes to supply chain management, visibility is one of the top priorities. Existing networks can have restricted visibility when important information about products does not accompany the products at the time of custody transfer. Access by all supply chain stakeholders to a common distributed ledger provides permitted participants with a shared, easily accessible source of the truth and greater visibility across all supply chain activities. 

While third-party manufacturers are involved in almost every industry, for the agri-food sector, this is a considerable concern. The ability to trace agri-food products through the supply chain is essential both to support marketing claims made to end consumers (e.g. this product was sourced [here], it is free from [these treatments], sustainable practices were used) as well as for food safety purposes to expedite recall management. This way, retailers can guarantee that the final product reaching the consumers meets all the quality standards and can be trusted.

For major agri-food manufacturers and retailers who have made commitments as part of their Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting programs, visibility, particularly into their upstream suppliers in primary production, will be critical for measuring Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and validating worker treatment and social conditions.

Argi-food Products to Asia

In the world of agri-food exports and foreign trade, having documentation in the order combined with provenance around the food delivered is an important part of building a brand reputation for a consistent, trusted supply of quality food products. To support its efforts to generate an integrated value chain delivering quality product reliably into the Asian market, TrustBIX recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with InnoBlock, a Hong Kong-based company that developed a track-and-trace blockchain platform called TT Chain. The two platforms, BIX and TT Chain, will work together to provide customers with precise information about the transactions at any given stage of a supply chain. Such collaboration will support our mission to create a world where we waste less, trust more, and reward sustainable behaviour.

Originally published on TrustBIX blog