IBM Launches Blockchain Food Tracking Network, Joined by Retail Giant Carrefour

Published at: Oct. 8, 2018

U.S. tech giant IBM has officially launched its blockchain-based food tracking network, Food Trust, after 18 months of testing, the company revealed in a press-release Monday, October 8.

In the same announcement, the corporation revealed that another major food retailer Carrefour is joining their ecosystem. The France-based company that operates more than 12,000 stores in 33 countries will first test blockchain on their own stores. As IBM’s press release reports, by 2022 Carrefour is planning to expand blockchain to all of its brands around the world.

IBM Food Trust was first announced back in 2016 as a blockchain solution that would connect different parties in the food industry. During the trial period, which started August 2017, the company partnered with Nestle SA, Dole Food Co., Driscoll’s Inc., Golden State Foods, Kroger Co., McCormick and Co., McLane Co., Tyson Foods Inc. and Unilever NV.

According to IBM, during its testing period, that retailers and suppliers used the  Food Trust blockchain to track “millions of individual food products.”

U.S. retail corporation Walmart was one of the first to companies to join IBM in experimenting in the area, back in 2016 using blockchain to identify and remove recalled foods that customers had complained about.

Just last month, Walmart announced it would be asking leafy greens suppliers to implement a farm-to-store tracking system based on IBM’s Food Trust system.

For IBM, the food industry is only one of many forays into blockchain tech. The U.S. corporation shares first place with Chinese e-commerce corporation Alibaba in terms of number of blockchain-related patents filed globally. Recently IBM was awarded a patent for a blockchain-based monitor system that will allegedly help to prevent different sorts of hacks and security breaches.

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