Swiss food major Nestlé and French supermarket chain Carrefour have teamed up with IBM Blockchain to track a popular mashed potato brand in Europe on the Blockchain to bring consumers greater transparency of its supply chain and manufacturing.
Nestle Maggi's Mousline instant mashed potato will be tracked using blockchain-based Cloud network IBM Food Trust. Blockchain technology was applied on the product from April 15 and is now available on shelves in Carrefour stores around France.
Consumers could receive reliable and unfalsifiable information on the supply chain and production by simply scanning the QR code on the Mousline packaging using a smartphone. The data will include production date and place, quality control parameters, storage times, location of warehouses, and information on the farm that supplies the potatoes and varieties of potato used for Mousline.
Nestlé has conducted several tests as a founding member of the IBM Food Trust platform since 2017, while Carrefour has already rolled out Blockchain technology on several products in its Carrefour Quality Lines since last year. Carrefour joined the IBM Food Trust platform in October 2018.
The lack of traceability information and the slow regulatory responses have resulted in growing consumer dissatisfaction. It often takes weeks during food-related outbreaks to find the source of contamination in the supply chain, which can contain hundreds of companies residing in several countries. Using blockchain technology could help resolve this issue to a great extent.
IBM Food Trust network connects growers, processors, distributors, shippers, retailers, regulators, and consumers through a permissioned, permanent and shared record of food system data. This will enable them to work together to trace and authenticate products or optimize supply chain processes.
Other firms that are part of IBM Food Trust include Topco Associates, Wakefern, BeefChain, Dennick Fruit Source, Scoular, and Smithfield as well as other multinational companies such as Kroger, Tyson Foods, and Unilever.
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