As we anticipated in our last article, “Blockchain: The Real Advantages Start to Come Up”, one of the spheres in which the application of blockchain could be more advantageous is that of food traceability.
In a world in which food has literally no borders and consumers are increasingly attentive and demanding to be informed, traditional systems based on shared databases and long data transfers from who generates them to who actually registers them are becoming inadequate. Every passage verified inside the production chain is in fact too often manually performed, and no-one certifies that they are really promptly and punctually reported. The various certifications are besides delivered to producers and distributors by hand, allowing for fraud and trick.
It is right here that blockchain can make a difference: an impartial entity, in which each one can register data for their “piece of production chain” in a demonstrable way, without external intrusion, and assuming responsibility for their own work and nothing else. Blockchain puts these “pieces” together and reconstructs a real, certified and coherent production chain, making it simply available to everyone, including final consumers.
IoT and RFID play a fundamental role in this context, relieving human operators of traceability responsibility.
Therefore goods handling is reported and available in a timely way, reducing delays and waste; cold chain in transport can be precisely traced; certifications are directly attached by certifiers and the point of sale guarantees product freshness with greater security and efficiency, because everything is crystal-clear. Every actor is encouraged to participate, since it is convenient for all!
This is obviously just an example, but it has indeed got the potential to heavily reduce transport environmental costs and waste at points of sale, and to make consumers more aware. And this is how a virtuous circle can be introduced, able to revolutionize everyday life for the majority of this planet’s inhabitants.
To sum up, blockchain and applications are much talked about, but so far practical results have not been many. However, something is beginning to move in this field, and we will obviously follow it very, very closely!
