IBM and Raw Seafoods are collaborating through the IBM Food Trust, a blockchain-based platform that promotes food traceability, safety, and sustainability. This information will automatically be shared with other members of the scallop supply chain.
Raw Seafoods first started investigating the potential for blockchain to improve its processes after observing its role in helping brands respond to e-coli outbreaks. However, they realized that by digitizing the food supply chain and creating an immutable record of each catch, solving key problems of the fishing industry.
[smlsubform prepend=”GET THE SAFETY4SEA IN YOUR INBOX!” showname=false emailtxt=”” emailholder=”Enter your email address” showsubmit=true submittxt=”Submit” jsthanks=false thankyou=”Thank you for subscribing to our mailing list”]
The first is seafood fraud. According to research by the environmental advocacy group Oceana, one in five of the fish samples tested were mislabeled. The implication of that finding is that if you have eaten seafood 10 times this summer, as many as two of your meals were not what you thought they were.
Secondly, blockchain can bring order and transparency to one of the world’s most complex supply chains. Namely, approximately 80% of the seafood is either imported out-right, or it has been exported and re-imported for processing. This makes difficult to determine exactly where a specific shipment of fish or scallops came from.
“Blockchain will help seafood processors, suppliers, retailers and even chefs raise the bar for their customers.”
Dan McQuade, VP of Marketing, Raw Seafoods, Inc., stated.