What Are the Major Problems with Food Supply Chain Worldwide?
The food supply chains worldwide are facing numerous issues, and many of them result in heavy disruption. This disruption can become a serious problem for impoverished communities around the world. Especially during a time of crisis, disruptions in the food supply chain can lead to many problems.
Some of the commonest issues that are being faced by the food supply chain worldwide are:
- Food tampering and false advertising
- Mass recalls of contaminated items
- Wastage in food supply chains
- Increased chances of food spoiling
Our Solution for an Efficient Management of Food Supply Chain Mechanisms
To efficiently address the food supply chain issues, we have introduced an enhanced and advanced solution in the form of blockchain technology.
What is Blockchain Technology?
Blockchain technology has long been in use. Although initially created for cryptocurrencies, it is now being used in several other areas, and management of the food supply chain is among them.
How is Blockchain Beneficial for the Management of Food Supply Chains?
Blockchain technology is beneficial for the food supply chain in many ways.
- It provides traceability, security, and decentralization with the data concerned with the food supply chain
- Blockchain is immutable. Every transaction is tracked, recorded, and displayed to everyone who has access to that information. That is why the data of blockchain cannot be hidden or altered
- Blockchain data is stored in a decentralized database. Multiple copies of blockchain data are saved upon different computers (known as nodes), where members of that blockchain can view it easily
- With the help of blockchain, an overall transparent environment is created, and there is no need for a centralized authority to interfere between the participating groups.
The Use of Blockchain in Food Supply Management
Recently, blockchain has been adopted by different companies related to food supply chain management. Some of these companies are:
Nestle is using blockchain for tracing the growing origins of its coffee brand Zoegas. This coffee brand is certified by Rainforest Alliance. In order to enhance the trust and transparency of this product, Rainforest Alliance is providing its certificate information with the help of blockchain technology.
This guarantees the origins of the product and ensures sustainable practices of coffee growing. Customers can view the information about farmers, harvesting time, roasting period, and the transaction certificate for their coffee’s shipment by scanning a QR code given on the packaging.
Bumble Bee Foods
Bumble Bee Foods used blockchain to record its yellowfin tuna operations and improve traceability in its operation. The blockchain system of Bumble Bee foods traces the movement of fish across the supply chain. It records the movement of the fish from the time when it’s caught till the moment it is sold in the shops.
Customers can also view the information about the origins of the tuna, the size of the catch, and the fishing community that caught the fish. Fair-trade data is also displayed to ensure the customers that their money is not being invested in unethical practices, such as child labor and slavery.
Walmart uses blockchain technology to digitalize its supply chain and reduce the time taken to track the source of food contamination. For example, an E.coli outbreak in the US spread across 19 states. This outbreak was traced back to leafy greens in the US with the help of blockchain technology. Walmart then spent millions of dollars notifying the public as well as eradicating the contaminated vegetables from the markets.
Now, it is a requirement for all the suppliers of leafy green vegetables to upload their data on the blockchain to track these vegetables back to the farms from where they originated. If an event of contamination occurs again, then Walmart can easily trace the contaminated foods.
Alysidia is Providing Sophisticated Blockchain Solutions for Food Supply Chain Management
Alysidia pioneer in providing blockchain solutions for digitalization of various industries. Our blockchain solutions come with certain features that make us stand out against our competitors. We provide:
- A user-friendly and cloud-based Azure web app
- Revision management with audit train for the blockchain
- Downloading features
- Easy and free access to the general users
- A dashboard for viewing the statistics.
Moreover, our blockchain platforms can only be accessed by authorized users, which ensures the invincibility of the data stored on our blockchain nodes. If you want to ensure complete transparency in your food supply chain management, you can contact us through our website alysidia.com.