Large companies have deployed the blockchain food supply chain technology field, do start-ups still have a chance?

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2018-07-04 21:37 (UTC+8)

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Although large companies have already occupied a certain market share, start-ups can still win customers with personalized solutions.

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Although large companies have already occupied a certain market share, start-ups can still win customers with personalized solutions.

The world of food supply chains has extremely complex processes.The food supply chain field includes farmers, storage companies, transportation companies, distributors and retail stores, etc.according to

according toCCNRecently, the British Food Standards Agency successfully completed a test using blockchain technology to track meat from slaughterhouses. Sian Thomas, director of information management at the UK Food Standards Agency, said blockchain technology could reduce the cost of food inspections.

Following this test, the Food Standards Agency will continue testing the food supply chain. Thereafter, blockchain can be used as a formal tool for ensuring compliance in the UK food industry.

This is the first time a UK regulator has used blockchain to monitor food supply chains, but other agencies or companies have already done so.

It is understood that at present, ten major food suppliers in the world have reached cooperation with IBM to trace food raw materials and ingredients more quickly. The ten companies include Walmart, Nestle, Unilever, McCormick, Tyson, Kroger, McLean, Driscoll, Dole and Golden State Foods.

Wal-Mart (Chongqing store) was once exposed to the "green pork incident", selling nearly 60,000 kilograms of fake pork, which aroused strong dissatisfaction from the public. Walmart began working with IBM in 2016 to "tether" pork to the blockchain.

Through partnerships with IBM, Walmart and other companies are attaching IoT-connected tags to shipments, assigning each shipment a unique identification number. Through these identification codes, the source of the product, processing information, storage temperature, shelf life and other information can be recorded, and these information can be recorded on the chain. In this way, the transparency of food can be greatly improved; in addition, it can also enable the company to quickly inquire about problematic links, solve and recall products in a timely manner.

Frank Yiannas, vice president of food safety at Walmart, pointed out that through blockchain technology, food companies can extract the source information of products in three seconds, which previously took nearly a week.

In fact, Wal-Mart's food safety incident is not an isolated case in China. In the early years, Sudanese red duck eggs, leather milk, clenbuterol, and sulfur smoked "poisonous ginger" appeared in China, and even dealers shipped them abroad.

To give another example, Australia is a major food exporter to China. In recent years, counterfeiters have often faked "popular" export products, such as beer, honey, nuts, etc., and then exported them.

In 2017, Australia Post announced a partnership with Alibaba to jointly develop a blockchain platform to improve food traceability and curb the growth of counterfeit food sold in China.

Although large companies have occupied a certain market share, there are still many start-up companies that provide blockchain technology for the food industry. These start-up companies are trying to gain a foothold in the industry by providing customers with more targeted products.

Provenance is a company that provides product traceability software to food businesses. Provenance is testing a new technology for how the DNA of fish and other animals can be recorded on a blockchain to track fish from hook to fork. Customers can access this information through mobile phones and apps. Currently, Provenance has served 200 customers.

Some start-up companies, such as Bart.Digital in Brazil and Bext360 in the United States, focus on supporting product traceability for small farmers.

China also has such food traceability start-ups. Food Better completed the A round of tens of millions of RMB financing in 2017. Its blockchain business xcener blockchain also uses smart contracts in the recording process. For example, in terms of production, once the hardware equipment finds that there is a shortage of water in the farmland, the sprinkler irrigation switch can be automatically turned on through the smart contract; in terms of trade, the delivery of the goods is confirmed, and the funds are credited to the account immediately; in terms of process monitoring, if there is an accident in the circulation link, the transaction will be terminated in time . The application of smart contracts in each link aims to save management costs for farms and brand owners.

At present, Food You has established cooperative relationships with more than a dozen banks, including HSBC, China Construction Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Sichuan Tianfu Bank and other domestic banks, as well as some overseas banks.

(I am Yannan, a reporter from Odaily. I am exploring the real blockchain. Please add WeChat nangua421262 for breaking news and communicating. Please note your name, unit, position and reason.)