How Blockchain Technology can Transform the Food Industry

The FDA recently said they wanted to deal with the food traceability issue(IFT). They need to be able to track food faster. Implementing blockchain technology into the supply chain would be a very good solution to this issue. Not only would it increase traceability but it could also be very beneficial to the consumers. They could have access to everything when they are making decisions on what to purchase. This could also in turn increase the use of fair practices when producing food.

How it is already being used

Walmart is using it mainly to help with food traceability. It used to take up to a week to be able to accurately trace where a product came from. Now with the blockchain they implemented they can track where a product came from in seconds(Walmart).

Nestle is specifically using it to track its coffee beans. Now customers can scan a barcode and get the exact information on how and when the beans were harvested and roasted.

Another Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_XnEKJVKXo&t=4s

What Would this Blockchain do

If we were able to successfully implement the blockchain into our food supply system it would streamline everything.

Increased consumer satisfaction
- Consumers would be able to know everything about the products

Decreased waste
- The food would be able to be moved more efficiently decreasing spoilage
Helps with outbreaks
- We would be able to track exactly where the contamination started
Decrease fraud and increase fair trade
- With consumers knowing everything about the products companies will likely stop unfair practices because the consumers will have knowledge of how they run.

Difficulties

While it is fairly apparent that using the blockchain in the food supply chain would be an obvious fix to the traceability problem, it is much easier said than done. Everyone would need to come together to get it to work. There is no way to just do it half way. This also means everyone would need to have access to certain technology that they don’t currently have access to. It would also mean adding a step for everyone to add information to the blockchain at each step in the process.

Sources

“Blockchain Challenges in the Food and Beverage Industry  .” Clarkston Consulting, 18 July 2022, https://clarkstonconsulting.com/insights/blockchain-challenges/.

Blockchain in the Food Supply Chain - What Does the Future Look like?, https://one.walmart.com/content/globaltechindia/en_in/Tech-insights/blog/Blockchain-in-the-food-supply-chain.html.

Enwood, Danielle. “How Blockchain Is Revolutionising Food Supply Chains.” Blockhead Technologies, 5 Mar. 2021, https://blockheadtechnologies.com/how-blockchain-is-revolutionising-food-supply-chains/.

Haskell, Scott. “Blockchain Technology in the Food Industry.” Institute for Food Laws and Regulations, 27 Apr. 2022, https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/blockchain-technology-in-the-food-industry.

“News & Publications.” IFT, https://www.ift.org/news-and-publications.

Saptv, director. YouTube, YouTube, 8 Mar. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_XnEKJVKXo&t=4s. Accessed 24 Jan. 2023.

Work, Innovation at. “Four Ways Blockchain Can Enhance Global Food Supply Chains.” IEEE Innovation at Work, 12 Aug. 2021, https://innovationatwork.ieee.org/four-ways-blockchain-can-enhance-global-food-supply-chains/.

By: Elijah Wald

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