seafood 165220 1280The largest American food GPO Topco Associates will pilot the Mastercard blockchain technology to trace the origins of its supplies of meat and seafood.
Enhancing food supply chain processes could easily be the most widely adopted use cases of blockchain technology as there is immense scope for improvement in terms of ownership records, data recording, and other supply chain inefficiencies. Companies like Mastercard and IBM, have time and again, demonstrated blockchain could make a positive impact on the overall food ecosystem.
While it was the world’s largest retailer Walmart that leveraged blockchain’s capabilities to track shrimp supply chain from India earlier this month, in August, Switzerland’s largest supermarket chain Migros deployed TE-food’s blockchain-based solutions for better monitoring of supply and distribution.
As food traceability continues to be the focal point of the recent food safety discussions, with the existing communication framework making the entire food ecosystem extremely vulnerable to counterfeit and adulterated products, more and more blockchain companies are making it their core purpose to transform food business with robust and traceable networks.
Mastercard blockchain spearheads massive food supply chain traceability
On the same lines, the payment processing giant Mastercard, partnered with Envisible, a company that focuses on streamlining the food supply chain, on the 27th of October, to bring about stability and visibility in America’s leading food cooperative, Topco Associates.
To put it simply, Envisible’s food tracking solutions will be empowered by Mastercard blockchain solutions and deployed by Topco to trace food origins, starting with a member grocery store, Food City.
According to the official press release, the three-way partnership is expected to provide a better insight into ethical sourcing and environmental compliance of seafood and meat selection supplied by the stores.
Meeting the new-age consumer demands
The modern-age consumers no longer shop add items to their shopping cart randomly. They are more conscious than ever and expect their food vendors to provide the same degree of transparency. Thus, Mastercard took this opportunity to express its excitement over the partnership and vowed to meet consumer expectations of reliable information through blockchain and Envisible’s Wholesale solution.
Senior Vice President of Innovation and Startup Engagement at Mastercard, Deborah Barta, further explains that the company’s already established network, globally-scaled technology, and innovative services such as the payments and counterfeit programs will help them to address back-end inadequacies, thus instilling trust and credibility in the entire food system.
Mark Kaplan, a partner at Envisible, also conveyed his overwhelming interest in making a difference. Per him, the sheer volume of global trade and the complex web of imports and exports make it extremely challenging for food companies to track the authenticity of products. We are glad that Mastercard shares our vision. Together, we want to reinstigate consumer trust with the highest transparency standards, he adds.
From Zero to Web3 Pro: Your 90-Day Career Launch Plan
