IBM announces major blockchain collaboration with food companies
Technology giant IBM has announced a “major blockchain collaboration” with a consortium of companies working in the global food supply chain. In a statement issued today (22 August), IBM said that the group includes Dole, Driscoll’s, Golden State Foods, Kroger, McCormick and Company, McLane Company, Nestlé, Tyson Foods, Unilever and Walmart.
IBM said that blockchain was “ideally suited” to help address issues such as identifying sources of contamination in the supply chain and establishing the provenance of food because it “establishes a trusted environment for all transactions”.
According to IBM: “In the case of the global food supply chain, all participants – growers, suppliers, processors, distributors, retailers, regulators and consumers – can gain permissioned access to known and trusted information regarding the origin and state of food for their transactions.
“This can enable food providers and other members of the ecosystem to use a blockchain network to trace contaminated product to its source in a short amount of time to ensure safe removal from store shelves and stem the spread of illnesses.”
The use of blockchain technology in the food supply chain is likely to become increasingly important to the express delivery sector, as the demand for home food deliveries continues to grow.
