E-commerce giant Alibaba has introduced a food-tracing system that utilises blockchain technology alongside four other companies in a move which brings digitalisation one step closer.
The four companies partnering with Alibaba - collectively known as the Food Trust Framework - on the initiative includes two Australian companies (Australia Post an health company Blackmores) and two New Zealand-based companies (New Zealand Post and dairy-exporter Fonterra).
The plan is to use blockchain to create a central ledger which will provide end-to-end supply-chain traceability and transparency.
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Customers are thus able to track their products along the supply chain and ensure security.
Blockchain has made several headlines as the front-runner in the race for digitalisation as it provides an opportunity to share data in a secure manner with different actors on the supply chain.
With regard to food in particular, blockchain allows the closer monitoring of the production and development process, an important practice considering the global issue of ‘food fraud’ which costs billions of dollars.