VeChain has launched a ‘market ready, blockchain-enabled’ food safety solution. It bases this on its one-stop data Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform which it calls ToolChain.
The solution, according to VeChain, means it is possible to deploy blockchain technology in the food sector with a minimum lead time compared with any other platform in the industry. The ToolChain powered ‘Food Safety Solution’ integrates VeChain’s technology and experience with business-ready technical features.
Blockchain applied to the food sector may be the ‘new normal
COVID-19 has accelerated the need for food companies to build even more resilient and transparent supply chains. Food companies have had to cope with the challenges emerging from an evolving marketplace.
Concerns about food safety have arisen following the COVID-19 outbreak. Consumer behaviour changes, attributed to COVID-19, have brought higher demands for safe and traceable food products. According to an IBM study, 71% of consumers are willing to pay an additional average premium of 37% for companies offering full transparency and traceability.
It is now, therefore, urgent to have access to a proper framework which can support effective collaboration among all stakeholders in a food supply chain. Blockchain technology, from VeChain’s view point is the best choice.
The suitability of blockchain
Blockchain technology is well positioned to tackle the current problems because it provides immutable data. This data is trustworthy. Immutable trustworthy data is the critical component which enables:
- transparency
- accountability
- mutual confidence (trust) among all participants within a supply chain (from the raw materials supplier through to the end consumer).
Typical examples where this such trust is exploitable include:
- acting in the event of food recall requiring strict data points for compliance
- where a company must manage multiple suppliers in the event of product tampering.
Supporting this is a report from Cointelegraph Consulting. This looked at:
- the transformation taking place in the food industry – by governments and stakeholders
- how blockchain + IoT solutions might lower the cost for the global food industry.
The report concluded that IoT+blockchain platforms can increase trust, transparency and coordination throughout the food supply chain and could produce US$155B annual cost savings. Better traceability might boost the international food trade by over US$100 million per year and create up to US$47B billion per year via increased revenues.
In effect, when combined with the deployment of IoT devices to collect data, blockchain technology can:
- streamline business processes
- enable companies to stand out
- facilitate the setting of common standards to shape the supply chains of the future.
ToolChain enables rapid deployment for food-based enterprises
Although many businesses have sought to introduce blockchain technology into their current business models, barriers to entry hinder such implementations. For example, enterprises are often forced to build their own blockchain applications from scratch. In so doing thet have to grapple with the various complexities associated with a new technology. Furthermore, most BaaS platforms in the market arguably today provide only high-level framework services (for example, deployment of nodes).
Barriers to entry have hindered blockchain in the food sector. With VeChain’s ToolChain, ready-to-use blockchain applications are deployable and implementable quickly.
The ToolChain powered food safety solution possesses:
- high standardisation
- light costs
- a flexible payment approach.
As significantly, ToolChain offers customisable tools and white label services. This means third parties (for example, integration houses) can obtain and implement the Food Safety Management Service for their own clients. Indeed, the VeChain approach covers a wide variety of use cases and sub-sectors, including:
- fresh food
- dairy products
- alcohol and wine
- imported food
- FMCG for supermarkets and retail.
VeChain asserts that enterprises can:
- quickly carry out concept verification with little or no lead time
- then extract the full potential of blockchain technology for their respective sub-sectors.
In addition, this blockchain-enabled food safety can improve communication and boost customer satisfaction. Retailers can engage with customers by providing access to related product and marketing information stored on the blockchain. This provides increased visibility into product origin, producer and quality. the hope is then to build customer loyalty and a stronger business-customer relationship.
Enterprise Times: what does this mean
Blockchain-enabled food safety solutions are not unique to VeChain. Other examples exist – for instance the IBM-led Food Trust or the Chinese Food Safety Alliance. Where ToolChain may be different is in its claim that it can provide food industry enterprises with various verified templates – including origin traceability, cross-border traceability and full-process traceability.
If so, the blockchain-enabled ‘Food Safety Solution’ powered by ToolChain will assist food companies. They can not only improve food confidence but also exploit data generated by their own business. Immutable data on a blockchain should enable enterprises increase the efficiency of:
- compliance reviews
- government supervision
- logistics
- supplier evaluation
- products recall management
- contamination management
- and more.
