Blockchain Non-Financial Use Cases - Food Supply (11/30)

BCG: “Each year, 1.6 billion tons of food worth about $1.2 trillion are lost or go to waste—one-third of the total amount of food produced globally. To put the figure in perspective, that is ten times the mass of the island of Manhattan.”

This should be completely unacceptable when there are people suffering from malnutrition and starvation around the world.

Solution:

A global food supply chain system where information is consumed and dissipated at each step to reduce wastage, maximize efficiency, improve quality, and increase safety.  

• Blockchains can be used at the retail level to push real-time demand forecasting back to earlier stages in the supply chain.
• Reduced waste by using IoT devices to monitor food safety by tracking factors such as temperature, humidity, and power status.
• Provide auditable history for food so brands can benefit from fair and safe trade practices.
• Use real-time location tracking to better coordinate supply chain steps and maximize the efficiency of infrastructure.
• Standardize nutrition labels and expiration information that can be verified and managed in a more efficient system.
• Allow targeted recalls when food safety issues do arise as each food item can accurately be traced throughout the supply chain.

BCG estimates the problem could be reduced by $700 billion with the right private and public sector participation. Blockchains hold promise to radically change an industry that is in dire need of improvement.