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Combining Technologies for a Better Food System – Food Tank

The price of Bitcoin dramatically spiked in late 2017, making blockchain, the system behind it, a trending topic of 2018. Blockchain affects banking as well as the food system. From tracking farming processes to bringing more transparency to the food chain, this series of articles will take you through the blockchain systems in food.

As the first and second articles of this series explored, blockchain technology provides a secure and trusted way for multiple parties to conduct business together, removing silos and red tape. According to Richie Etwaru, Adjunct Professor of Blockchain Management at Syracuse University, blockchain technology “solves for trust in commerce.”

Large corporations throughout the food system have been creatively using technology with the aim of better serving consumers. The Internet of Things (IoT), or the concept of linking different devices among themselves, is being more widely used in recent years. In 2015, Tesco Korea placed a virtual store in the form of a poster in Seoul subway stations, where customers can scan a QR code for the products they want—while they wait for their train—and their order gets delivered to their door.

And with blockchain technology, IoT is crucial for enhancing applications’ effectiveness, since sensors tracking information through blockchain are far more precise and complete if connected among each other.

Chinese retail giant Alibaba will soon use blockchain technology to help prevent and solve food safety issues in China, where a prevalence of fake food, especially in the dairy and meat sector, is causing distrust in consumers. At their vendors Taobao and Tmall, blockchain will track each step of the food item from origin to final destination, verifying the authenticity of the produce that will be distributed for their 443 million active shoppers.

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