Food and beverage giant Nestlé is looking to break new ground in supply chain transparency with the announcement of a new collaboration with OpenSC. The company provides an innovative blockchain platform that allows consumers to track their food right back to the farm. The collaboration would make Nestlé the first major food and beverage company to announce that it will pilot open blockchain technology this way.
The initial program will look to track milk from farms and producers in New Zealand as they are transported from farms to warehouses in the Middle East. Following on from that, they will be looking to test the technology on the supply chain palm oil sourced in the Americas, which will give the company a picture of the scalability of the technology.
Benjamin Ware, Global Head of Responsible Sourcing for Nestlé stated that “This open blockchain technology will allow anyone, anywhere in the world to assess our responsible sourcing facts and figures. We believe it is another important step towards the full disclosure of our supply chains announced by Nestlé in February this year, raising the bar for transparency and responsible production globally.”
The initiative to use blockchain technology to track its supply chain began back in 2017 when Nestlé became a founding member of IBM’s Food Trust in an effort to eliminate foodborne illness and eradicate it.
Blockchain technology adds to Nestlé’s initiative of providing “full supply chain transparency” to all its customers. In an announcementback in February, the company announced that it would be disclosing the list of suppliers as well as a variety of data of its 15 priority commodities. Another pioneering move for a key food and beverage company, thus helping the company reach its goal of Full Supply Chain Transparency.
“Consumers want to know what is in their food and where it comes from. Therefore, transparency in our supply chains is essential, and we will continue to lead in this area. Following the public disclosure of our palm oil and pulp and paper supply chains last year, we are now pleased to release supply chain information for soya, hazelnuts, and vanilla” said Magdi Batato, Executive Vice President, Head of Operations, Nestlé.
Sources: Nestle.com, coindesk.com