The food supply chain is an enormous industry, involving various participants, say, farmers, producers/ manufacturers, processors, distributors, government agencies, retailers, and more. All of these participants have their own responsibility for protecting the data they own. This information is highly sensitive and crucial, which, when forged, opens up the doors for food frauds.
Blockchain is already playing its part in the finance and healthcare industries. And for the food industry, it provides a transparent yet secure environment where all the network participants in the blockchain have access to all the data. These data are immutable, meaning, once entered and verified, they cannot be tampered with or deleted.
Issues in the Food Chain Industry
The food sector is one big industry that needs utmost care. Yet, it ends up being the one that's struggling with scandals and inefficiencies. Most of the problems that the food industry faces rise from the lack of trust and, of course, transparency within the supply chain.
It's deplorable to see our food system failing in all factors, including the "assurance" demanded by loyal customers. "Food safety and health are linked with each other, and due to that food fraud creates a vicious cycle of disease and malnutrition."
A World Health Organization report states that "almost one in ten people fall ill after eating contaminated food.” This is not restricted to a particular region or country, it's global, and it's dangerous.
Moreover, food-related diseases are the primary cause of infant deaths, and they also don't spare young children, the older, and the sick. Despite various security measures being implemented to safeguard the food industry, food fraud is still a global concern that continues to rise among consumers.
What does Blockchain have for the Food Supply Chain?
It is crystal clear that the current food supply chain systems are twisted and crumbled since the industry itself is governed by manual processes. Unlike machines, human beings are not skillful enough to detect adulterated or contaminated foods.
When we employ blockchain technology to regulate the global food supply chain, it makes the whole process transparent and traceable, and of course, "easy to handle."
Blockchain helps build a better supply chain ecosystem that connects farmers, retailers, wholesalers, agricultural businesses, warehouses, and factories. With this "dynamic ecosystem," consumers/customers can be assured one-hundred percent end-to-end traceability.
The entities that handle the food products are represented as nodes, and these nodes together constitute a blockchain network. This makes it easier & quicker to track and trace the source of food items right from the farm to the plate.
Here, each recording and verification of a particular operation in the supply chain are replaced with AI-powered or IoT devices. You all should be aware of IoT devices. They are the bridge between the physical and the digital realm.
Thanks to the invention of geographical, biological, and chemical sensors, they can be employed to gather information and transmit real-time data of raw materials & other products when transferred from one place to another.
This self-governed system reduces human errors to a greater extent and increases the efficiency of the food supply chain. Since the information in a blockchain network is stored and transacted through consensus protocol, the chances of information tampering or malicious activities are null.
Undoubtedly, blockchain technology bestows traceability and accountability to the food chain, therefore, putting a permanent end to food safety disasters.
"Global food retailers, such as Nestle and Unilever, are trying out the concept of ledger technology to build a completely transparent food supply chain.
Walmart has successfully developed a Food Trust solution with IBM. It connects farmers, manufacturers, factories, distributors, and wholesalers/ retailers through a permissioned data network."
Use Cases of Blockchain in the Food Industry
Now let's see the potential use cases that blockchain has for the food service industry.
Use Case 1: A Transparent & Traceable Ecosystem
Fraud & counterfeit are not new terms, especially to the food industry. Each passing day, at any given time, there is a "food scandal" happening. But it goes unnoticed, much like other problems. Why is that? Because until now, we don't have a proper system in place to regulate the food industry.
These contaminated and counterfeit-ed goods are extremely dreadful things, and they are the primary cause of food & drink-related diseases around the world. We all are aware of "Operation Weak Flesh" - an investigation that involved meat-based companies since they were found to be bribing officials in the health department, which allowed them to export rotten meat across the globe.
We have one dynamic, fundamental solution that would make everything transparent, making it easy for us to detect fraud when employed. Blockchain is truly capable of providing a trustworthy and more straightforward ecosystem that allows us to track the products' movements along the food chain. It further adds up the benefit of easier identification of the source of counterfeit.
This ecosystem allows distributors, retailers, restaurants, and bars to help their customers see the issues. They can also add a statement that the "fake product" is removed from the inventory.
"How does this help? It drastically reduces the rate of defective food products, affected customers, and unnecessary food trash."
Use Case 2: Food Waste Management
Despite thousands and thousands of awareness programs, campaigns, and webinars against food waste, people are still wasting food knowingly or unknowingly. It is estimated that Americans alone trash nearly 150,000 tons of food per day. On the other hand, hundreds of people die due to starvation.
Restaurants and fast food shops throw a significant amount of food each day; that's pretty enough to eliminate hunger. But you know what, we consumers are the ones who are trashing out more foods than an average food store.
Food-based businesses and restaurants know that over-ordering, food spoilage and contamination are their biggest problems, and they also hurt the income line.
Blockchain makes it easier for businesses to monitor the products' entire flow, from manufacturing to delivery. This blockchain holds a ledger that stores customer records, buying patterns, frequent buys, and product interests.
Besides, the use of blockchain provides people in the food industry with more detailed data that will assist them in making crystal-clear decisions to minimize food waste.
Use Case 3: Blockchain-backed Restaurant Management
"A study states that automation will take over human work within five to ten years, in more ways than we actually think."
The rise in the number of restaurants and fast-food chains led to comparatively low salaries in the global restaurant industry. This further led to a decrease in the count of expert cooks in the kitchen. And what happened next? A lot of amateurs started working as cooks.
Semi or low skills end up in low food quality. Even today, many people, especially Americans, believe that food poisoning in restaurants is more common than at home.
The sudden setup of automated restaurants like Spyce Kitchen, which uses Artificial Intelligence clearly states that the jobs of chefs, waiters, bartenders, bussers, and other restaurant employees are on the brink of extinction. In an automated restaurant, the process of meal preparation is wholly automated by machines that do all the cooking & cleaning parts themselves, leaving no space for human intervention or errors.
There is no denying the fact that automation is the key to altering the entire food sector. These are two pretty good examples explaining how blockchain plays a significant role in enhancing automated processes in the food industry chain.
Blockchain-powered smart contracts could help in recording the transactions between consumers and restaurants. A network of sensors could provide information on customer purchase patterns & food quality standards.
Next, this actual and standardized information could also be securely stored on the blockchain for analysis by decision-makers within a company independent of their location.
Use Case 4: Integrity in the Food Supply Chain
Years and decades ago, there were comparatively fewer scandals and fraud, and people had a general trust in food companies. Let's say a strong belief among farmers, distributors, retailers, and consumers. Everyone believed that the goods being sold were of a certain quality, and they met safety standards.
But today, there're always open doors for scandals, counterfeit, and frauds, which leads us to ask questions about the products' what & whereabouts.
Worries apart! Blockchain technology provides dynamic possibilities for supply chain tracking. A participant in a food chain enters the information related to a food or drink product (including the growth steps, harvest, and shipment).
On the other hand, consumers can have 100% trust since the product comes with all the details they need to know. They will have, like a forever, permanent record of how a food product was grown, when & from where it was shipped when it arrived, who distributed it, and how long it has before expiry.
"This method, for sure, will differentiate the retailers and restaurants with best practices from those selling fake, counterfeit goods to their customers."
Use Case 5: A Unified & Universal Market Access
Blockchain use cases for the food industry are not limited to food safety. The technology is also a benefit for consumers.
How? By adding value to the current marketplace by setting up a distributed ledger, blockchain builds a unified and universal platform where the network and market pricing are perfectly balanced.
The current "buying & selling" price structure purely depends on the decisions by the authorities involved, rather than the details provided by the entire value chain. Giving access to data would create a complete picture of the "supply and demand."
The blockchain application for businesses has the real potential to transform the traditional commodity trading system. Blockchain helps verify & validate transactions and securely share them with every participant in the food supply chain, creating a dynamic marketplace with significant transparency.
Conclusion
We have seen for ourselves what blockchain technology promises in the food industry. Yet, there are many concerns, questions, and challenges that make the technology difficult to understand and implement blockchain in the food supply chain.
