Nestlé has created its own blockchain platform for tracking supply chains

The world’s largest food company Nestlé announced the launch of a pilot program for tracking supply chains using the blockchain.

As stated in the statement
companies, a company in partnership with the blockchain platform OpenSC has developed a distributed registry system that will exist separately and differ from the IBM Food Trust blockchain, which Nestlé has joined before.

The testing of the system will last six months, and the success will be determined by the “suitability, viability and scalability of the system”, as well as by how well the system verifies the data. After deployment, the use of QR codes, a mobile application and a web portal can be added to the list of additional services.

“It is very important for us that access to information be as smooth and easy as possible to ensure the participation and support of stakeholders and consumers,” the company said.

Nestlé notes that the goal of the initiative is to promote market transparency by providing independently verifiable data to consumers of the conglomerate. The company also believes that the mechanism will improve food safety and quality control.

“We want our consumers to make an informed decision when choosing products and choose products made responsibly. An open blockchain will allow us to share reliable information with consumers in an accessible way, ”said
Magdi Batato, Executive Vice President, Nestlé.

Initially, the program will track milk from farms in New Zealand to Nestlé enterprises in the Middle East. Subsequently, it will be expanded to include the production of palm oil in North and South America. Then Nestlé will determine the scalability of the application – the company notes that it will take time to integrate some retail products.

“With the palm oil supply chain in America, we can experiment with the system locally. Moreover, the product itself, being a liquid, adds complexity, ”the company said.

Data will be collected at each stage of the value chain and recorded on an open platform. The company also plans to include data from other monitoring systems, such as satellite imagery of farms.

Creating your own blockchain platform is not the first Nestlé experience in learning new technology. Previously, the company used the IBM Food Trust blockchain platform, and this spring Nestlé, the French supermarket chain Carrefour and IBM have merged
in order to use the blockchain to track product supply chains.