Blockchain systems are tracking food safety and provenance.

Fraud in the global food industry is a multi-billion dollar problem that has persisted for years, deceiving consumers and even making them sick. Food manufacturers around the world are concerned – 39% are concerned that their products can be easily tampered with, and 40% say it is difficult to detect food fraud.

In more than three years of blockchain research, I am convinced that this technology’s potential to prevent fraud and strengthen security can help fight agricultural fraud and improve food safety. Many companies agree and are experimenting with a variety of experiments, including tracking from the vine to the bottle and even tracking individual coffee beans in international trade.

Tracking food items

An early attempt at a blockchain system to track food from farm to consumer was made in 2015. In 2016, when Walmart gathered information about pork being farmed in China, consumers began to question sellers about exactly what their food was and where it came from. Workers in the pig farm scan images of farm inspection reports and animal health certificates, and store them in a secure online database where the records cannot be deleted or modified – only added to.

The truck drivers played a key role as the animals moved from farm to slaughter to processing, packing and then to the point of sale. At each stage, they collect documents detailing the shipment, storage temperature and other inspection and safety reports and official stamps as officials review them – just like normal. In Walmart’s test, however, the drivers take pictures of those documents and upload them to a blockchain-based database. The company controlled the computers that managed the database, but government agencies’ systems could also be involved to further ensure the integrity of the data.

When pork is packaged for sale, a sticker is placed on each container, displaying a smartphone-readable code that links it to a meat register on the blockchain. Shoppers can scan the code in-store and verify for themselves that they are buying exactly what they intended. Recent advances in the technology of the stickers have made them more secure and counterfeit-proof.

Walmart has conducted similar tests on mangoes imported from Latin America. The company was able to provide users with just 2.2 seconds to know the individual fruit’s weight, type, growing location, harvest time, date it passed through US customs, when and where it was cut, and the cold storage location of the cut. Before delivering the mango to the store and for how long it is kept.

Prevention of counterfeiting

Beyond tracking the origin of products, blockchain systems are helping to ensure that cheap plonk isn’t sold in bottles like expensive wine. Some counterfeiters put their hands on empty wine bottles with high quality labels, fill them with cheap wine and reap fraudulent profits.

In the year In December 2016, wine expert Maureen Downey released a blockchain system that combines more than 90 pieces of information about its production, ownership and storage history to give each bottle a unique digital identity – including high-resolution photographs and glass and cork information. As the bottle moves from the winery to the distributor and seller, the information is updated and can be easily verified by warehouses, retailers and auction houses.

More recently, the Downey system has been updated to combat more sophisticated wine counterfeiters who have devised a way to preserve wine without opening the bottle. The improved protection embeds a small microchip in the top of the wine cork, so if someone removes the capsule wrapper or punctures the chip, it becomes unreadable.

Ensuring a living wage

Consumers are not the only ones concerned about contaminated or adulterated food products. Many consumers say that they choose environmentally friendly products and contribute to the improvement of the living and working conditions of small farmers and workers. Media makes a lot of money. For example, only 10 percent of the $200 billion global coffee industry remains in producing countries.

Global sales of products certified by Fairtrade, the main certification for products that respect environmental and human rights issues, reached $9.6 billion in 2017. But Fairtrade and other similar programs have not significantly improved the lives of the poor. A study of small farms producing flowers, coffee and tea in Ethiopia and Uganda found that areas controlled by Fairtrade producers pay lower wages than large, business and non-Fairtrade certified farms.

Colorado-based Coda Coffee seeks to use blockchain technology to track its coffee from African farms to American coffee shops to ensure fair payment. The system includes a camera that takes a three-dimensional scan of each bean, called a cherry, and pays farmers more if they supply larger, ripe cherries, and records the amount paid in a blockchain database for consumers to check later.

A bean record is prepared, packaged, mixed with other beans, roasted and ground, allowing consumers to know who made the beans and how much they were paid. Wholesalers and roasters can learn where they come from and how they are treated and evaluate the resulting flavor, informing future purchasing decisions.

These are far from the only examples – there are countless others going on around the world.

Ensuring data integrity

Blockchain systems are secure, but their data – like other databases – is only as good as it’s entered. Fraudsters may try to fake certificates of organic processes or farm inspections.

In addition, in developing economies such as Africa and China, most food is produced on very small farms that do not have access to technology or the Internet. Blockchain systems can be expensive, which is one reason why early experiments involved high-end beef, wine, and coffee.

Research already underway holds the promise of developing inexpensive systems that are easy to use and reliable – for farmers, food processors and consumers alike.