Blockchain and IoT Strategies and Use Cases – Food Industry

One of the most critical supply chains in the United States and the World is the food chain.  It currently is the focal point for the development and implementation of Blockchain and IoT solutions. The food sector comprises over $1.4T in GDP.  This industry is very complex and, one would think, highly regulated.  While it is regulated, it is nearly impossible for companies to easily identify the source of food born contaminants and isolate those sources.  This was most recently demonstrated in 2018 with the lettuce E.coli outbreak in Arizona.  The growing season ended before the source could be found and isolated.  The University of Rhode Island recently reported:

“Each year in the United States alone, it is estimated that more than 33 million people become ill as a direct result of food borne illness. More than 9,000 people die. The cost in lost wages, insurance claims and medical bills amounts to between $7.7 and $23 billion a year.”

Farm to Table defines the entire supply chain for the food industry.  It consists of many different levels of sophistication and systemization.  As shown in the graphic below, a Blockchain and IoT solution provides the capability to understand and document via one single source of immutable truth the entire chain of custody of a food product and its complete provenance. 

When fully implemented the Farm to Table blockchain system is implemented the following things are possible:

  1. Consumers will be able to tell if a product is truly organic
  2. Movement of materials throughout the supply chain will be frictionless
  3. Sources of contamination will be easily identified
  4. Payments to vendors can be automated
  5. Much of the oversight costs which are estimated to be approximately 20+% will be eliminated

These use cases are being worked on or developed across the entire industry. When making decisions about Blockchain, it is important to understand the maturity of the technology and how:

  1. it will grow in importance
  2. it applies to your company and your industry
  3. to gain a full understanding of the transformational potential Blockchain and IoT technologies to your business and supply chain
  4. how the leadership team can carefully plan their approach to the identification and integration of Blockchain and IoT strategies

Group50, subject matter experts in productivity, cost takeout, supply chain and supporting technologies,  has developed an integrated  Blockchain and IoT plug and play solution called Scioebc™ .  We have also created a 7-step implementation process that includes 4 workshops which are focused on guiding senior leadership through the planning and integration of these transformational technologies.

To find out more about how you can apply Blockchain and IoT to the Food Industry, call Group50 at (909) 949-9083, drop us a line at Blockchain@group50.com or request more information here

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