The Australian government has granted A$2.25 million ($1.7 million) to the Sustainable Sugar Project, Foodnavigator-Asia reports July 30. The Sustainable Sugar Project, led by the Queensland Cane Growers Organization, will use blockchain technology to track the provenance of sugar supplies to Australia. The initiative known as the Smart Cane Best Management Practice (BMP) is part of a sugar industry push for better sustainability and traceability. Blockchain technology will purportedly allow buyers to clearly see where sugarcane comes from and prove the provenance and sustainability of the farm. Canegrowers told Foodnavigator-Asia: “Blockchain’s main attribute is that it’s a secure database in …

UK food regulator the Food Standard Agency (FSA) has successfully accomplished a pilot using blockchain technology according to an announcement published July 2. This was reportedly the first time blockchain has been used as a regulatory tool to ensure compliance in the food sector. The pilot was implemented in a cattle slaughterhouse, where both the FSA and the slaughterhouse were authorized to access data in order to improve transparency in the food supply chain. In July, the agency is looking to launch another pilot, which will allow farmers to access data about animals from their farm. Sian Thomas, Head of …

Is it possible to track where food comes from? Several companies have launched services allowing shoppers to see a product’s journey from farm to fork, but they often depend on retailers agreeing to be transparent. When you pop into a store to buy fresh fruit, vegetables or meat, it’s common for the packaging to reveal which country it is from. Some upmarket brands go further by offering stories about the farm and the conditions where the food was cultivated. Tracking an item step-by-step through the manufacturing process can be hard — and, sometimes, even manufacturers and retailers themselves aren’t sure …

Walmart and nine other companies have partnered with IBM in order to release a blockchain for tracking food globally through its supply chain, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports June 25. The Food Trust blockchain, which includes Nestlé SA, Dole Food Co., Driscoll’s Inc., Golden State Foods, Kroger Co., McCormick and Co., McLane Co., Tyson Foods Inc. and Unilever NV, have been collaborating with IBM on the initiative since 2016, and began conducting trials of the product in August of last year. The WSJ states that the Food Trust’s goal is to improve the companies’ ability to identify issues involved …

The government of the South Indian state of Kerala will use blockchain for food supply and distribution, local news outlet Business Standard reported June 17. The new project is headed by Keralan think-tank the Development and Innovation Strategic Council (K-DISC), and will use blockchain, as well as Internet of Things (IoT) technology, in an attempt to make the state’s supply network for dairy products, vegetables and fish more efficient. Chairman of K-DISC, KM Abraham, told Business Standard that each component of the supply network would have a separate ID number, through which its source, production, quality, and distribution could be …