DeltaTrak, a leading innovator of cold chain management, environmental monitoring, and food safety solutions, has joined IBM’s blockchain-based Food Trust program, working with suppliers of leafy greens and other perishable food types to help them with on-boarding to the Food Trust. Food Trust is one of the largest and most active non-crypto blockchain networks currently in production, conducting in excess of 15 million transactions so far, and the addition of DataTrack will add another element to the project’s data reporting capabilities.
Food Trust Paving the Way
Built on Hyperledger Fabric-based technology, which has been clocked at an impressive 20,00 transactions per second (TPS) in tests, IBM Food Trust connects supply chain data across its ecosystem with the immutability and transparency that comes with integrating blockchain technology. Members of the network, who include Nestlé, Walmart, and Carrefour, provide provenance insights in return for optimized supply chain processes, increased freshness, improved food safety, minimized waste and fraud, and more. The system uses a governance model to help ensure that companies are able to set rules about who can see the data they upload and for how long, also maintaining control of their data even once it has been uploaded to Food Trust.
Project Benefits Everyone
Frederick Wu, President and CEO of DeltaTrak, praised the network’s ability to benefit everyone in the entire food processing chain:
Participation in the IBM Food Trust should be more than just customer-driven. When suppliers come on board, they’re joining forces with other stakeholders, to improve the speed of food safety tracebacks, reduce waste, and optimize efficiency in the supply chain. Ultimately a win-win situation for all parties, down to the consumer.
Supply chain has long been recognized as one of the areas blockchain technology can revolutionize, and IBM is among a handful of companies taking the lead on this. In the east, VeChain has made huge inroads in China, and it is likely that first mover advantage will be crucial in building a strong network, as long as the technology that underpins it can prove to be as reliable as it is fast.
