IBM's Blockchain will help track fresh salmon from farm to table

The use of blockchain tech also allows consumers and retailers to track an item back to its source. This is a key part of any supply chain, to maintain the quality of products while keeping everything transparent to the consumers. The biggest project in this regard is IBM’s food traceability platform.

Specially designed for retailers, wholesalers, and suppliers to be used on a daily basis, the platform costs $100 per month for small businesses, $1000 for medium businesses, and $10,000 for large-scale industries. The platform has garnered a lot of attention with retail giant Walmart already implementing it since September 2019 to track vegetables.

Tracking Salmon from farm to markets

The latest firm to join IBM’s Food Trust is the Norwegian-based producer of farmed-salmon, Kvarøy Arctic. The firm is a major supplier for several restaurants and whole-food retailers throughout the United States and Canada and is set to use blockchain to provide all information about the origin of its products to its customers.

With the use of IBM’s platform, Kvarøy Arctic customers will be able get access to all the information by scanning a QR code.  According to IBM Food Trust’s general manager Raj Rao, the partnership is “promoting transparency and sustainability in the seafood supply chains.”

Customers will have access to images detailing the conditions under which the salmon was produced, including the population and density of the salmon habitat, their age, date of harvest, and information concerning the journey from farm to the market.

The company has also requested its feed supplier to provide its supply chain data to the project.

The firm further noted that the past few months have seen massive demand for fresh seafood in the United States, with the producer having to supply twice the anticipated volume. The rise in demand often tends to increase the chances of fraud.

According to research published by environmental non-profit Oceana, one-third of all seafood products are mislabelled in the United States, resulting in consumers often paying premium prices for substandard products. These concerns can easily be addressed by the implementation of blockchain technology.

Kvarøy Arctic CEO Alf-Gøran Knutsen said:

“Blockchain is the future when it comes to ending fraud in the seafood industry; the technology tracks a level of detail that helps us reduce food waste so we can feed more people in the world.”