Blockchain Technology has been taking the world by storm by quite some time now and almost all the sectors have successfully adopted it for their businesses. Food and beverage companies too have made full utilisation of this technology to solve issues related to supply chain tracing to reducing food shortage. Simply put, blockchain technology can be used to not only store but also share information across a set of say joint owners but virtually.
It would largely benefit a retailer to connect with the supplier at the time when stock is getting over and another way round. By incorporating blockchain, the food and beverage firms can reduce food wastes, bill frauds, better information to users, and so on. Companies can very easily detect contamination in their system if any which in turn will eradicate foodborne diseases.
Blockchain Enhances Traceability Of Products
The food product that we use in our daily life comes from a much larger supply chain. Before it comes to us, it passes through and is exposed to many hands which increases the risk of the product getting contaminated. For instance, back in 2017 Chipotle, the Mexican food chain was reported for the outbreak of coronavirus caused by rats in which several customers were affected. Again during 2008-2009, nine people died because of the Salmonella bacteria and a dangerous strain of E Coli found in Peanut Butter and tainted spinach respectively.
Why Food Giants Like Nestle Are Incorporating Blockchain In Their System
The power features of traceability and transparency make a perfect technology to be implemented in food industry giants like Nestle. A recent article by Mark Jones explained why Nestle, the biggest food company in the world has considered using blockchain in its system.
Why the world’s biggest food company is using #blockchain – an interview with @Nestle #SupplyChain #DigitalTransformation #FoodSupply https://t.co/rUWpC4xeK4
— TechHQ (@techhq) July 22, 2020
Nestle is one of the founding members of the IBM Food Trust, a service that grants the users easy access to applicable data on the food supply chain. The SaaS solution records the entire history and whereabouts of all the food products. It also stores valuable information about the product such as test data, temperature data, and so on. Benjamin Dubois, who is the blockchain lead and digital transformation manager at Nestle, said that the main purpose of Nestle as a company is to unlock the power of food and raise the bar for people’s lifestyle. Hence, technology, data, and transparency is necessary, so consumers can actually trust the products.
Apart from food giant Nestle, several other companies like Walmart, JD.com, Carrefour are experimenting with blockchain. With greater adoption, the number of faulty and unsafe products is expected to reduce.
