The First Food and Beverage Giant to Launch Blockchain Pilot, Nestlé Claimed

Nestlé S.A. (Nestlé), the largest food company in the world and ranked 64^th in Fortune Global 500 in 2017, announced the launch of blockchain pilot to allow customers tracking their food products in supply chain, as revealed in its official press release.

Nestlé had partnered up with the blockchain platform, OpenSC to initiate the blockchain pilot. OpenSC was developed by the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) – Australia and BCG Digital ventures. This blockchain platform not only grants customer’s access to independently verifiable sustainability and supply chain data, but also attempts to solve the problems of transporting unethical and illegal food products between countries.

The pilot program allows Nestlé to test the scalability of the blockchain platform. It will initially trace milk from farms in New Zealand to Nestlé factories and warehouses in the Middle East. The technology will then be tested with the palm oil sourced in the Americas.

This is not the first time Nestlé gave customer’s access to product data via blockchain. In April 2019, Nestlé announced the partnership with Carrefour which customers can trace the data of Mousline purée on blockchain. Customers can scan the QR code with their smartphones on Mousline packaging and they can have access to the production date, quality control parameters, storage times and the location of warehouses.

“We want our consumers to make an informed decision on their choice of products – to choose products produced responsibly. Open blockchain technology might allow us to share reliable information with consumers in an accessible way.” Said Magdi Batato, Executive Vice President, Head of Operations of Nestlé. Global Head of Responsible Sourcing, Benjamin Ware at Nestlé added “This open blockchain technology will allow anyone, anywhere in the world to assess our responsible sourcing facts and figures.”

Nestlé first tapped into the blockchain space in 2017 with joining the IBM Food Trust. Blockchain technology has been widely adopted in supply chains, with IBM, KPMG, Merck and Walmart collaborated to evaluate the use of blockchain in protecting pharmaceutical product integrity, which is part of the program of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

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