Nestlé Rises to DLT Challenge, Expands IBM Food Trust Blockchain Tool to Coffee

Published at: April 6, 2020

Global implementation of blockchain technology in the food industry continues to grow as the world’s biggest food and beverage company, Nestlé, doesn’t put its blockchain efforts on hold.

On April 6, Nestlé announced that the company is expanding its long-running IBM Food Trust blockchain technology platform to its coffee brand Zoégas.

Getting all necessary coffee info from blockchain database 

With this new implementation, Zoégas coffee lovers will now be able to trace select coffee editions back to different origins in Brazil, Rwanda and Colombia, the company said. Additionally, consumers will be able to access some relevant coffee information including time and location of harvest, roasting period, transaction certificate for the specific shipments, farmers, via scanning the QR code on the packaging.

Nestlé partners with the Rainforest Alliance on development

According to the announcement, Zoégas' integration with the IBM Food Trust platform became possible after Nestlé partnered with a trusted third party, the Rainforest Alliance.

Representing a non-governmental organization focusing on sustainable forestry and agriculture, the Rainforest Alliance will be responsible for providing reliable data that will allow users to follow the coffee journey to the Zoégas factory in Helsingborg. Under the partnership, the organization will purportedly provide its own certification information about the coffee and record the data directly on the IBM Food Trust blockchain platform.

Nestlé joined Walmart-founded IBM Food Trust in 2017

As reported by Cointelegraph, tech giant IBM launched its Food Trust in October 2018 with the purpose of bolstering food safety with blockchain. The project dates back to 2016, when IBM started collaborating with retail giant Walmart on blockchain technology to identify and remove recalled foods. As reported, the IBM Food Trust included 10 companies as founding members at launch, including Nestlé, Dole Food Co., Driscoll’s Inc. and Golden State Foods.

Nestlé admitted that its blockchain venture was more challenging than other projects

The IBM Food Trust isn’t Nestlé’s sole blockchain foray. As Cointelegraph reported, the Switzerland-headquartered food retail giant has been also involved in a joint blockchain pilot with WWF-Australia and BCG Digital Ventures, designed to trace milk from producers in New Zealand to Nestlé’s factories. In August 2019, Nestlé Australia’s “Chain of Origin” project of blockchain-powered supply chain management was also reportedly nominated for a digital transformation award by the International Data Corporation. 

As the world’s largest food and beverage firm, Nestlé purportedly encountered a number of issues on its path of adopting blockchain technology. In September 2019, Nestlé Digital Technology Manager Armin Nehzat admitted that its blockchain venture has been more challenging than other projects, urging that the company had to adopt a “start-up mindset” to move ahead in that direction.

Tags
Adoption
Blockchain
Food
Supply Chain
Ibm
Transparency
Sweden
Nestle
Related Posts
Blockchain Could Help to Boost Global Jobs Creation
A report published by the World Economic Forum, or WEF, highlighted the critical role of fourth industrial revolution technologies. New technologies like blockchain could help stimulate growth by implementing “nature-positive” solutions following the COVID-19 outbreak. According to the “Future of Nature and Business” study shared with Cointelegraph, nature-friendly solutions could have the capacity to create 395 million jobs and generate $10.1 trillion in business opportunities by 2030. Inger Andersen, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the UN Environment Program, commented on the matter: “As we enter into a historic decade of action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by …
Adoption / July 14, 2020
French Food Company Looks to IBM’s Blockchain Network for Better Sourcing
IBM Food Trust blockchain platform has onboarded one more French manufacturer seeking to enhance transparency of product provenance and supply chain. The Avril Group, a vegetable oil, eggs and protein manufacturer, and the owner of brands Matines and Lesieur, has begun using IBM Food Trust network to ensure traceability of its products, according to a Feb. 4 press release. Improving corporate social responsibility and customer experience By applying blockchain, the Avril Group expects to make improvements in its corporate social responsibility, especially when it comes to sectors such as quality livestock and the consideration of animal welfare. Matines is looking …
Adoption / Feb. 6, 2020
Two European Salmon Producers Use IBM’s Blockchain Platform to Track Supply Chain
Salmon farming company Cermaq and smoked salmon producer Labeyrie began using IBM’s cloud blockchain technology to trace their product supply chains. Cermaq announced the development in a Nov. 20 press release, revealing that it cooperated with Labeyrie and IBM’s blockchain platform IBM Food Trust to enable customers to get information about the salmon value chain. All Cermaq salmon products now come with a CV and QR-code, so consumers can check details such as: “... [fish] origin, when it was hatched, which fresh water facility it came from, how big it was when it was transferred to seawater, at which sea …
Adoption / Nov. 20, 2019
Carrefour, Nestlé Use IBM’s Blockchain Platform to Track Infant Formula
Retail giants Carrefour and Nestlé are now using IBM’s Food Trust blockchain platform to track the supply chain of milk-based formula for infants, according to a Nov. 14 announcement. By using the platform, the firms aim to advance consumer confidence in the products’ quality by ensuring more transparency of the entire supply chain of formulas produced by Laboratoires Guigoz. The system aims to improve supply chain transparency and conduct checks of infant nutrition products’ origins. Implementation of blockchain-based tracking systems by retail giants Both Carrefour and Nestlé are not new to the application of blockchain in their internal processes. The …
Adoption / Nov. 15, 2019
Spanish Port Authority Joins Blockchain Platform Developed by IBM and Maersk
The Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras (APBA) has signed an agreement under which it will collaborate with IBM on its shipping platform Tradelens, Europa News reported on Jan. 21. Tradelens is a digital platform based on blockchain technology developed by both IBM and international shipping giant Maersk. Algeciras is one of the top 10 busiest ports in Europe, hosting over 70 million tons of cargo traffic annually. In 2017, the port had a container throughput of 4.3 million containers. According to an APBA note seen by Europa News, the platform will allow APBA to more securely and efficiently …
Adoption / Jan. 21, 2019