Blockchain is a decentralized public ledger that stores data on various nodes which can be accessed by all users. Blockchain is hastily revolutionizing many industries, as technology advances, it started to set the foot in the food supply chain sector. Blockchain can solve various problems faced by the food industry by enhancing traceability, transparency, immutability, and decentralization. Blockchain in supply chain management facilitates the incorporation of logistics and financial services. Blockchain helps to revamp global food supply chain operations by enabling organizations to provide greater transparency across all supply chain activities. Blockchain offers increased transparency that helps to minimize food fraud, eliminate safety risks, enhance food traceability, and also build brand trust.
What is Food Supply Chain?
A food supply chain is a process that encompasses many operations the food products go through from the producer to the consumer. The food supply chain processes have various stages that include production, storage, processing, packaging, distribution, retailing, and consumption. It involves every stage from the production of food items to the distributors and retailers to the delivery of the processed food to the end consumer. The supply chain is the primary factor that influences the food industry. It is important to implement the right supply chain to manage various operations, distribution, marketing, and financials while maintaining efficiency, transparency, and timeliness.
Importance of Blockchain in the Food supply chain
Blockchain in the food industry allows you to track all the stages that take place in the supply chain more securely. It also helps increase food safety and optimize supply chain efficiencies. Blockchain in supply chain management helps you to track the product from its origin to the place where it currently sits. The transactions are documented securely, every time the product changes hands from the source to the destination. Blockchain supply chain solutions can streamline the supplier onboarding process by maintaining a record of all vendor details. Tracefood helps to enhance the credibility of your business by providing solutions to serve the customers better. Tracefood helps the manufacturer and consumer to trace the food product from where it comes, the places it is stored, how many hands it’s exchanged, and all the other stages of the supply chain process.
Global Blockchain Market Info in Food Supply Chain
Blockchain technology is transforming the food supply chain sector by enhancing transparency. There are certain potential applications in these sectors like Tracefood are already explored in the market. As per the Research and Markets stats, the global market size of blockchain in the food supply chain in 2020 is around USD 133 million and is estimated to reach USD 948 million by 2025. During the forecast period, there will be rapid growth in CAGR of 48.1%. The key applications of blockchain in the food supply chain include food product traceability, tracking and visibility, governance, smart contract, and financial settlement. The blockchain market in the food industry is expected to grow more owing to an increase in the demand for transparency in supply chain operations.
How Blockchain works in the Food Supply Chain
Blockchain stores all food supply chain transactions and events on a distributed ledger. This distributed ledger is set up by encrypted and time-stamped data blocks linked in chronological order. Every block carries a batch of transactions validated based on the pre-defined consensus protocol. Each participant in the supply chain can share the handling information on the network. All participants have access to verify the information in real time using blockchain technology.
The data on food origin and movement across the supply chain are carried out by the food suppliers. The manufacturing processes and added food product ingredients information are provided by the Food manufacturers. The documents on the product origin and quality are verified by the Food inspectors and certification. The details of the location of origin and current location as well as the storage conditions of food products in transit are uploaded by the Transportation providers. The food supply chain activities are traced by the distributors to ensure responsible sourcing practices, food product quality, and safety. The end consumers can access all the details on food products that go through all the stages in the supply chain to assure their authenticity.
How Blockchain Benefits the Food Supply Chain
The blockchain helps to record and display the data publicly and also has the potential to track ownership records and tamper-resistance. Here are some of the benefits of blockchain in the food supply chain.
Food Traceability
Food traceability is one of the key factors to consider in food safety, especially with innovative blockchain applications. As the food items are perishable, there are chances to make mistakes that could affect the health and well-being of humans. Public health is threatened by many foodborne diseases, and tracking down the source of contamination is the primary step for root-cause analysis. Consequently, blockchain helps to track all the stages of food items in the supply chain that passes through to maintain food safety. It provides accurate information to the consumer and enables them to find the source of the problem or fraud.
Transparency
Blockchain technology helps to get detailed information about food products. Tracefood facilitates the food industry and consumers to find out where they are manufactured, how they are produced, and the stages they went through, just by scanning the QR codes on the packages. The blockchain then stores all the collected data in the supply chain ledgers. This information also assures the quality of the food product and helps consumers to make informed purchasing decisions.
Tradability
Blockchain in food supply chain management helps to boost efficiency in ownership and licensing. It also enables the verification of the past ownership of products through standard licensing procedures that can be crucial for the food industry. It also leverages automated smart contract payments for accurate licensing of services and products. One of the primary benefits of using blockchain technology in supply chain management is it offers the feature of consensus. Blockchain stores the same data on every entity which helps to track ownership easily.
Blockchain – The Future of Food Supply Chain
Blockchain in supply chain management helps food companies to gain more trust among consumers. Blockchain helps businesses to save time and resources and also reduces costs. It gives businesses and consumers the exact picture of what’s happening in the different stages of the supply chain. There are various food sectors like seafood, meat, fruits vegetables, dairy, and frozen foods that can make use of blockchain technology in the food supply chain. Blockchain helps companies to pinpoint precise issues and problems within the supply chain operations, allowing the companies to perform root cause analysis and avoid those specific mistakes in the future.
Tracefood is a blockchain technology platform for the food supply chain which aims to leverage a variety of food product provenance data for better payments and offers the perfect means to record data across supply chains. Tracefood provides the food companies in the supply chain with enhanced transparency and an ultimate level of traceability that leads to remarkable savings, improved inventory holdings, food safety, fraud prevention, and increased trust and credibility. Tracefood application has immense potential to revolutionize the food industry and the supply chain it depends on.
