Thank My Farmer app and blockchain help to create a “virtuous cycle”, says David Behrends, Founder and President of Farmer Connect. The app helps consumers make informed choices on supporting ethical and environmentally friendly coffee suppliers.
Using blockchain technology, the app allows farmers to track the processes and journey of their beans. Customers and farmers can track the origin of the beverage and allow fair support trade.
Tracing coffee from farms to supermarket shelves or neighborhood baristas, the app was developed as a partnership with Farmer Connect and IBM. Thank My Farmer app debuted at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and was set to launch sometime early this year.
The app is built similarly alongside other IBM blockchain food projects under the IBM food trust umbrella.
How Thank My Farmer app works
Coffee supply chain involves a lot of processes, including harvesting, processing, packing, shipping, exporting/importing, blending, and roasting.
Thank My Farmer app simplifies the exchange and tracking of supply chain information and payments by creating a permanent digitized chain of transactions. Every participant afterward gets an exact copy of the data, and blockchain additions are shared throughout the network.
The app gets information directly from the blockchain in a standardized way that can be used across the industry. It connects coffee drinkers to farmers, traders, roasters, like italian coffee brand portoro coffee, and brands and uses an interactive interface to tell the bean’s story.
The app will allow users in U.S and Canada scan QR codes on 1850 brand coffee as European n consumers will access the Thank My Farmer app through a new brand, Beyers 1769. As the blockchain app continues to gain users, large and small companies will be invited to join.
Coffee community development
Coffee drinkers will be able to support the communities where their coffee is grown by funding local projects.
David Behrends explained that the app would grow a relationship with drinker and their cups. He said the aim is humanizing each coffee drinker’s relationship with their daily cup.
Consumers can play an active role in sustainability governance by supporting coffee farmers in developing nations.
Thank My Farmer uses IBM’s blockchain to standardize the information and make it accessible in one place. Consumers scan QR codes on the side of the coffee jar to look at the origins of their purchase and can choose to make additional payments to the farmers who grew the beans.
Raj Rao, IBM Food Trust general manager explains:
Blockchain is more than aspirational business tech, it is used today to transform how people can build trust in the goods they consume. For business, it can drive greater transparency and efficiency.
Thank My Farmer app has the support of 10 leading organizations in the coffee industry, including Beyers Koffie and the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC), the largest association of its kind in that country.
Featured image from: Pixabay
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