Fresh produce blockchain traceability

Fresh produce blockchain traceability solution by Farmsoft delivers supply chain wide traceability information for fruit and vegetables. Instant blockchain access for suppliers, purchasers, and end consumers.  Farmsoft uses CHAIN-TRACE technology to deliver low cost fresh produce blockchain traceability solutions for growers, packers, wholesaler, importer/exporter of fruit and vegetables.

Fresh produce blockchain traceability

Fresh produce blockchain traceability solution by Farmsoft delivers supply chain wide traceability information for fruit and vegetables. Instant blockchain access for suppliers, purchasers, and end consumers. Farmsoft uses CHAIN-TRACE technology to deliver low cost fresh produce blockchain traceability solutions for growers, packers, wholesaler, importer/exporter of fruit and vegetables.

Fresh produce blockchain traceability
Fresh produce blockchain traceability bar-codes applied during production & packing

Growers, packers, and wholesalers of fresh produce can apply their choice of barcode to their chosen items (Invoice, BOL, pallet label, case label, end consumer unit)

Farmsoft delivers an easy to use, low cost fresh produce blockchain solution for packers, processors, food service, and fresh produce wholesalers importer/exporter.

Blockchain – Essential for 
The Produce Traceability Initiative, was designed to help the Produce Industry maximize the effectiveness of current traceback procedures, while developing a standardized industry approach to enhance the speed and efficiency of traceability systems for the future. …and more! Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. Soft Fruit Juice identify the pallets on a production order Zerya Protocol Leading growers, packers and shippers of fresh produce in the U.S. and Mexico use the solution for both item- and ca

Improve operational efficiencies with the blockchain Hyperledger, Fabric, Iroha, and Indy. Fruits is able to trace the history and the location of their exported fresh produce by means of recorded identifications. We hope that the ideas presented in this article lead to a fruitful resolution of the challenges that remain for produce supply chain members seeking to implement PTI in conjunction with RFID solutions.

She said while the countries are well positioned, there are aspects that could be improved. Fresh Produce Traceability and Inventory Management and Software Updates for October 2016. All trademarks/service marks referenced on this site are properties of their respective owners.

Season will work out the price of splits from the whole price of the product and can add on price uplifts for splitting. France intensifies controls to determine traceability of Spanish fruit 100% traceability across the industry will be accomplished much easier and with greater success if the industry agrees on a single standard for the information required to be tracked and shared during a trace-back.

This in an important development and will impact retailers both locally and internationally. SPAIN. Spanish fruit and vegetable producers have still not recovered from the “cucumber crisis” in the summer of 2011, which caused a sharp decline in exports. Working with all supply chain stakeholders including the local traders and smallholders on FFB traceability.

Fresh produce blockchain traceability
Purchasers view fresh produce blockchain traceability by scanning bar-code

Purchasers can scan a bar-code to view the suppliers chosen supply chain traceability information including:  Invoice, BOL, traceability and provenance, quality inspections, proof of shipping, pre-shipment photos, and any marketing information the supplier chooses to include.  

View sample Fresh produce blockchain traceability verification result for a purchaser.

View sample Fresh produce blockchain traceability verification result for a purchaser.

Will blockchain be the holy grail of fresh produce traceability?
Go to a local Walmart store and picked up a package of sliced mangoes. Returning to the office, Walmart’s vice president of food safety, challenged his team to find out where the mangoes had come from, and set a timer. Six days, 18 hours and 26 minutes later, an answer came back.



BLOCKCHAIN FOR FRESH FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS – REALITY SETS IN?
When it comes to implementing blockchain for fresh food supply chains, has reality set in? Back in late 2017, blockchain was seen as a messiah, of sorts, for food safety and traceability. It seemed like it was hard to go a day without seeing an article in the press about this. Blockchain was going to solve all of our supply chain problems for freshness, traceability and food safety.

Has it?
Next steps
While excitement around blockchain is enormous, whether or not it will become the "Holy Grail" of traceability remains to seen. Roman Kuhar of Compac advises fresh produce growers and packing houses to align themselves with partners who understand the technology and who can help you implement it. He believes that consumer demand for transparency will drive innovation and that "packhouses and growers that adopt a blockchain driven traceability will become the gold standard for innovation and food safety."

Others tread cautiously. Harry Smit of Rabobank cautions that two prerequisites are required for companies to achieve success. "First, processes within companies, and between companies, have to become digitalized and standardized," he says. "Second, a broad participation of stakeholders along the value chain is required; otherwise the value of blockchain is lost." Nonetheless, Rabobank recommends that companies participate in more than one blockchain initiative while maintaining flexibility to switch to others.

Charlebois echoes the need for participation. "The most important challenge remains participation," he writes. "All parties must adopt the technology in order for it to work. In food distribution, not all companies are equal, and some can exercise their power more than others. A successful integration of the blockchain requires the engagement of all participating organizations." He states that further research is needed "before we get too excited."

Fresh produce on blockchain
While demand for fresh produce grows as people strive to eat healthier and look for more choice in their fruits and vegetables, the challenges around food safety and freshness persist. Across the industry’s highly complex, cross-border supply chain, challenges range from issues around the origins and quality of farm products to shrinkage and spoilage resulting from improper handling and storage.

Blockchain fresh produce traceability
Purchasers scan fresh produce blockchain traceability barcode to leave feedback and more...


Purchasers can scan the blockchain traceability barcode to leave feedback, and even enclose photos of the fresh produce.  This information is great for suppliers of fresh produce for quality improvement processes.  


How can IBM Food Trust help?
IBM Food Trust™ understands the challenges facing the fresh produce industry. That’s why we are dedicated to building trust and transparency and empowering seamless collaboration throughout the cross-border ecosystem with blockchain.

Learn 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 fruits and vegetables and their status to mitigate the spread of contamination and prevent waste in the case of a food borne illness outbreak.

Building consumer demand and brand trust
The Consumer module shares the journey of fresh produce. Connect shoppers to specific, permissioned information that helps influence buying decisions, such as origin, quality and sustainability practices.

Streamlining produce handling and reducing food waste
The Insights capabilities module provides near real-time supply chain data, including information on temperature and product movement. Leveraging blockchain and IoT technology, Hyper Insights enables better handling and transportation of perishable fruits and vegetables as well as dynamically optimizing inventory management.

Enabling reliable documentation across the supply chain
The Documents module allows participants to upload, manage, edit and share any documents along the supply chain. Improve information management, demonstrate organic and sustainability growth practices and show compliance with quality standards.

Use case
Enabling a global retail giant to trace leafy greens back to the farm
In 2018, a multistate outbreak of E coli-related illnesses linked to romaine lettuce started making headlines. Walmart had recently completed a food traceability pilot on the IBM Food Trust platform in which it reduced the time required to trace a box of mangos back to farm from 7 days to 2.2 seconds.

As a result of the successful pilot, the company sent a letter to all its leafy green suppliers asking them to join the IBM Food Trust-enabled Walmart Food Traceability Initiative. The goal was to have leafy green suppliers be able to instantaneously trace every product back to its farm, by production lot, within a year. 

Blockchain fresh produce traceability
Low cost fresh produce blockchain traceability solutions

Farmsoft uses CHAIN-TRACE technology to manage supply chain blockchain traceability information.  This comes in two forms "ON-CHAIN" where traceability packages are uploaded to a node on the blockchain, and "OFF-CHAIN" where supplier traceability information is stored in a vendors database.  The "OFF-CHAIN" version does not use the blockchain. 
 
What Does Blockchain Mean for Fresh Produce?
Blockchain offers a range of benefits for the fresh produce industry. It promises greater transparency and traceability in supply chains; implicating improved productivity and greater food safety. By providing logistical insight, and increased control over produce; blockchain could help fresh produce businesses reduce costs, scale production, and invest in focused growth.

What is blockchain in fresh produce?
In short, blockchain is a digital platform that records transactions in a verifiable and permanent way. As a transaction occurs it is recorded on a shared ledger. The shared ledger is distributed across the entire ‘chain’ (of users), meaning the data is distributed and stored instantaneously across the network. This means that a transaction can be trusted as its details are verified by the network at large.

With blockchain, the movement of fresh produce is recorded at each hand-off. If, for example, a container of avocados is loaded for transit, the handler will log key data; such as location, time and provenance. As every handler enters this data, every item will have a full, traceable history with records at every point of its journey from farm to store. This data can be shared to designated participants in the blockchain and helps build consensus.

How will blockchain impact fresh produce businesses?
Blockchain will benefit growers, pickers, and packers by making them more efficient. For fresh produce businesses, this could mean speedier, more reliable supply chains – helping them to improve customer loyalty and maximize sales.

Blockchain
What It Is, What It Isn't, and What It Means for the Produce Industry


Ed Treacy, Vice President, Sustainability & Supply Chain Efficiencies for the International Fresh Produce Association. Image: MZMC
As is often the case with hot new technologies, there is an imbalance between the lofty hype surrounding blockchain and the low percentage of regular people who understand what it is.

A Wall Street Journal reporter earlier this year jokingly suggested cutting through the blockchain hype by changing every mention on the internet of the word "blockchain" into "multiple copies of giant Excel spreadsheet." Indeed, it is a useful, if oversimplified way of thinking about blockchain ledgers.

Importantly, "blockchain is not a specific software, it is a methodology for sharing data between trading partners," says Ed Treacy, Vice President, Sustainability & Supply Chain Efficiencies for IFPA (formerly PMA), who delivered a presentation called Exploring the Power of Blockchain Technology a PMA Fresh Connections: China conference in Shenzhen.