Food manufacturing on blockchain

Food manufacturers, sitting in the middle of a complex global processed food supply chain worth USD 5.9 trillion in 2019, face significant challenges around visibility into ingredient origins as well as improper in-transit product handling and storage, which can result in food quality and safety issues, food waste, and damage to consumer trust and brand reputation.

21.8%

of global supply chain executives surveyed said that visibility is their biggest challenge.

Source: Statista

94%

of consumers surveyed said they would be more loyal to a brand that offers complete transparency.

Source: Label Insight

48 million

people get sick and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases each year.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Building brand trust and consumer loyalty

The Consumer module enables consumers to learn about the journey of food ingredients from the farm to finished product to grocery shelf, along with product details and ingredient sourcing information. Connect shoppers to specific, permissioned information that helps influence buying decisions, such as origin, quality and sustainability.

Ensuring freshness, reducing waste and fraud

Our Insights capabilities module provide near real-time supply chain data, including information on temperature and product movement. Leveraging blockchain and IoT technology, Insights can help assure that your products are fresh when they reach the customer by providing time-since-harvest for ingredients, product inventory flow, average dwell time and more.

Providing proof of origin and accelerated tracking

The Trace module enables end-to-end supply chain visibility, cutting the time needed to track a food source from days to seconds. Know the provenance of food supplies and their status to mitigate spread of contamination and prevent waste in the case of a food borne illness outbreak.

Enabling reliable documentation across the supply chain

The Documents module allows users to upload, manage, edit, and share any documents along the supply chain. Improve information management, ensure supplier credibility, and demonstrate production standards.

Use case

Giving consumers visibility into a brand’s extra virgin olive oil journey from farm to shelf

CHO is a Tunisian olive oil producer and one of the largest in the southern Mediterranean region. Its extra virgin olive oil brand Terra Delyssa is sold by retailers around Europe and the United States. In light of the widespread incidence of olive oil fraud and mislabeling, the company wanted a way to assure its customers about the purity of its products.

In January 2020, Terra Delyssa joined IBM Food Trust to use blockchain to share the origin and production process of its olive oil with consumers. Olive oil bottles will have a QR code that shoppers can scan to see the farms where the olives come from, view certification and testing documentation, and learn about the traditional processes involved in making the olive oil.

Through this use of blockchain, Terra Delyssa joins food producers and manufacturers around the world that are building brand trust and consumer engagement by providing visibility around food’s journey.

Many other food companies have also discovered the power of blockchain. Carrefour and Nestlé are using IBM Food Trust to monitor the supply chain for Mousline purée, a popular instant mashed potato mix available in France. Scan the QR code to learn more.

QR code and close-up of person using smartphone to see food trust data about Mousline product on Carrefour website
  1. 1. Scan the QR code with your smartphone camera, then...

  2. 2. Type in the missing numbers shown below in bold

  3. 9242 0836A 2

Boosting trust: Knowing the community that's bringing food to your family

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