Transparency from farm to fridge

Towards transparent supply chains

Numerous accreditation schemes exist, that firms can use to claim that their products have been grown, made and traded fairly and responsibly. But how can consumers be sure that such claims are trustworthy? After all, large parts of our food supply chains are quite opaque. "Back in 2016, we therefore started looking for a way to use blockchain technology to make supply chains transparent," recalls Marten. "That eventually led us to build the Trace platform. Trace lets businesses track their products' origins and show who's involved along the way. So they can back up the claims they're making for their brands." Underpinning the platform is blockchain technology. Platform users, who will normally be food industry suppliers and manufacturers, are responsible for entering data, contacting farmers in their supply chains and asking for their permission. Information can be entered digitally or using a form or transaction record. "The system behind Trace has been set up with accessibility in mind, so that users can modify relevant elements themselves," says Marten. "Each partner in a product's supply chain manages their own part of the data. Thanks to the blockchain technology, data can't be changed or deleted once it's on the system. Although there's no guarantee that all the information in the blockchain is correct, the approach does make it very hard for anyone to hack or falsify data. Blockchain therefore makes a small but vital contribution to product traceability. It enables all transactions in a supply chain to be recorded and delivers a more transparent picture of the supply process. The system addresses the risks," explains Marten.

The power of blockchain technology

Companies are therefore able to give consumers a clear picture of their products and supply chains. When a company uses Trace, they aren't simply saying that their products are traceable, fair and organic; they're letting customers see for themselves. "That implies companies being able to design and publish their own stories, complete with data from the chain, on their own Trace platform pages. Trace is therefore the final link in your brand or organisation's story, which you can share with your customers." Consumers scan a QR code on a product or a link in associated literature to reach a company's Trace page. There they can read full details of the product's origins. Dutch coffee importer Trabocca is an early Trace adopter. The company attaches great importance to transparency and has embraced Trace as a way of letting customers follow the route that Trabocca coffee takes from farms in Ethiopia to bars and restaurants in the Netherlands. Thanks to Fairfood's platform, Trabocca products are now 100 per cent traceable. And that enhances their value, because transparency encourages people to buy. "When people know where a product comes from, what it contains and what life is like for the people at the start of the supply chain, that promotes consumer confidence. Making origin data available therefore has direct commercial benefits," says Marten.

The value of traceability

Food industry businesses of all types and sizes can make use of Trace. Fairfood offers three platform packages. So even small firms and farmers with very little technology can get free, phone-based access to Trace. That opens the way for verifying claims made down the chain, seeing where produce goes and following the transaction trail.

The role of SIDN Fund

"SIDN Fund supported the very first phase of our development; they enabled us to get up and running. Later on, further support from the Fund meant that we could make the Trace technology accessible to food industry players. As a result, companies can now make modifications to the system with very little assistance from us, as well as designing their own platform pages. So the help provided by SIDN Fund has been instrumental in the continued development and opening up of our platform."

"SIDN Fund is very pleased with what Fairfood has achieved by developing Trace in line with our Blockchain for Good theme," commented the Fund's Programme Manager Mieke van Heesewijk. "Fairfood has shown that blockchain technology can be extremely useful in the context of product traceability and supply chain transparency. In practical terms, that means better product information for consumers. Is something really organic, for example, and are the growers treated fairly? We're very confident about where the Trace platform is headed."

Future plans

"Our next aim is to further simplify the tool," adds Marten. "That's going to be important in terms of enabling small firms to trace their own products at very little cost and without our intervention. Ultimately, we want to see companies in the food industry valuing farmers more, and more of what the consumer pays going into the farmers' pockets. With Trace, the farmer is not only the commodity producer, but also the data producer: it's the farmer who builds the story behind the product. Aspirational branding wouldn't be possible without the farmers, so farmers deserve a fair share of the proceeds."