IBM disclosed that French premium foods company Labeyrie and Italy’s Gruppo Grigi joined IBM Food Trust for blockchain traceability. Labeyrie will be using the platform for tracking certain Norwegian smoked salmon products from yesterday. And Gruppo Grigi will launch traceability for its Aliveris pasta brand later this year.
Labeyrie will be using the technology for the provenance of its salmon stocks sourced from farmer Cermaq. Consumers can scan the QR code printed on the packaging to get details such as the species, origin, farming conditions, and preparation.
“Product traceability is an essential component of our mission to provide complete transparency to consumers about the premium quality of our smoked salmon and the requirements we meet in its preparation,” said Céline Porterie, project manager at Labeyrie Fine Foods.
Over the past few months, several companies have joined the permissioned blockchain platform including Raw Seafoods earlier this month. Seafood traceability is a popular use case for the platform and food traceability in general. This is owing to consumer concerns about sustainable fish farming, the use of chemicals to accelerate growth and mislabelling the source of some fish.
Meanwhile, for Gruppo Grigi, blockchain will certify that its Aliveris pasta, is made from organic Italian wheat and non-GMO products. Gruppo Grigi’s Food Italiae distributes the pasta brand. The Italian group intends to introduce more products from its portfolio onto the blockchain. Using IBM’s platform, customers can view details regarding the product from the origin of the organic wheat seeds, cropping, farming activities, to the forming of the pasta shape and its transport.
Founded in 2017, IBM Food Trust has a high profile in blockchain food traceability. It uses Hyperledger Fabric blockchain technology. One of its most significant applications is to use the platform for food recalls particularly leafy greens. The World Health Organisation says that annually, one in ten people suffer from foodborne diseases.
With the entry of Labeyrie and Gruppo Grigi, retailers such as Carrefour and Walmart, which are already part of IBM Food Trust can now enable provenance of the two brand’s products.
