Dole plans to use Blockchain food traceability

The Dole Food Company has a five-year plan to invest in the blockchain to encourage greater food security. Dole aims to launch the labeling of blockchain products and other "advanced traceability solutions" in its three business divisions – tropical fruit, fresh vegetables and other diversified products – in an attempt to improve food safety operations by 2025.

The sustainability report published Wednesday, April 22, traces a system-wide redesign of how Dole, one of the world's largest distributors of fruit and vegetables, tracks down its food.

The point is to improve the speed with which Dole can identify problematic points in the supply chain during a recall of contaminated products, something he has worked on for years to improve through his association with IBM Food Trust.

"Blockchain reduces the average time required for food safety investigations from weeks to seconds," says the report. "Products that have been registered via blockchain can be immediately tracked down the supply chain, giving confidence to retailers and consumers in the event of a recall."

Faster food tracking

The distributed data could make investigations more agile, Dole said in the report. It will also use this data to make consumers more informed. Dole said he plans to "eventually" pull the curtain back on his supply chain with scannable vegetable packs that reveal the "journey from the farm to the store shelf."

This is something Dole says he has already done with his supply chain of salads and fresh vegetables, according to the report. Now, it plans to launch blockchain systems for other products soon. Dole's plan does not include a timetable for specific initiatives.

The 2025 target comes almost three years after Dole began experimenting with registries distributed as a member of the IBM blockchain food consortium, the precursor to IBM Food Trust. Dole seems ready to continue that collaboration for at least the next five years.

The report notes that the other members of the group's Walmart consortium and IBM, a milestone in the group, are both teaming up with Dole to showcase the potential of the blockchain "to bring about a decisive change in food security."

The growing interest of governments

Food safety authorities for governments have noticed the blockchain. The upcoming "New Era of Smarter Food Safety" project by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will promote the implementation of "blockchain technologies," said FDA commissioner Stephen Hahn in a speech in February.

Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response Frank Yiannas, who played a leading role in the development of the FDA project, previously managed Walmart's food security operation, where he worked closely with IBM Food Trust. .