How blockchain is transforming the meat market worldwide

By Matheus Darós Pagani
CEO of 4CADIA Foundation

How is it possible to guarantee that a package of meat produced in a Brazilian slaughterhouse arrives with the recommended quality conditions on the table of an American consumer? Blockchain Technology may hold the answer.

Why the meat?

Health is certainly one of the greatest sources of concern for consumers who care about the origin of their food. It is estimated that diseases caused by the ingestion of inadequately preserved food or food of dubious origin are responsible for the deaths of 420,000 people every year.

As meat is particularly subject to the effects of poor storage conditions, there is increasing concern about the sanitary conditions of the product until it reaches the consumer’s table. Demands of this kind should grow even more after the COVID-19 pandemic, as happened with the swine flu pandemic in 2009, which caused millions of dollars of losses for many companies.

Another important public are the consumers in the organic food market, which covers the production of meat and other derivatives from animals raised without hormones or genetic engineering, fed without artificial rations. In North America alone, sales of organic products moved $1.2 billion in 2017. This type of consumer, more demanding than the average, usually keeps an eye on stamps of authenticity and the reputation of producing companies, certification agencies and sellers that market the product. Unfortunately, many companies use this “seal” to market products for higher prices, without necessarily showing care with their production at the levels their consumers believe in.

Blockchain solutions can solve most of these problems. Peer to peer networks, protected by cryptography, allow each of the parties involved in the supply chain of a given product to have access to data points that tell exactly where and for how long each of them has passed. Packages or boxes with hash slots inserted in a secure network can allow real-time access to the location of the food, allowing at any point in the chain to know by whose hands and for how long it remained with each intermediary. The unique identity of each package guarantees its inviolability and provides security for those who produce, sell and consume.

IBM Food Trust

IBM Trust Food is certainly the most famous application in this market. Based on Hyperledger Fabric’s protocol, which has conquered industry giants such as Carrefour, Nestle, Dole Food, Kroger and Unillever, the Trust Food is already a giant. The solutions are based on the creation of a digital record book of transactions or interactions, from the date of packaging, temperature of the product at the time of transport, until the time it is placed on the shelf. Network members are looking for ways to leverage the use of blockchain to improve supply chain performance in areas such as efficiency, freshness, waste reduction and certification verification.

Halal meat

From an ethical point of view, there is a growing number of consumers who are interested in the way animals have been treated from rearing to slaughter. Perhaps the best example is the halal meat market, an Arabic word meaning legal, permitted’.

The Quran determines some rules and requirements that should guide the slaughter of animals, the production and handling of meat so that it is fit for consumption. Normally, this production must be certified by authorities recognized by Islamic countries. With a market of about 1.8 billion people around the world, which moves 2.1 trillion dollars every year.

The problem is that this requires a very strict standard of control over the meat that is produced. Certifiers have a direct link with the Islamic world, but this does not happen with the entire supply chain, until it reaches the final consumer.

How is it guaranteed that a package of meat produced in South America arrives in the Arab Emirates with the proper temperature on the ship, trucks and supermarket shelves? Furthermore, how can it be guaranteed that it is the same meat package that was produced according to the halal standard?

Blockchain technology as a partner of tradition

The solution is to invest in traceability. With blockchain, it is possible to provide a reliable product, eliminate intermediaries and reduce costs. In 2018, TE-Food, a blockchain company that operates in the food distribution chain, partnered with UK-based Halal Trail to focus on bringing halal food to Muslim tables in Britain. TE-Food already uses the blockchain to process over 18,000 pigs and 200,000 chickens every day.

Since 2019, Korean telecommunications giant KT has been investing in building blockchain solutions for the meat market, particularly the halal type. B-Square Lab and the Muslim Federation of Korea will register certificates for halal food in the network. Each product will also be scanned with a QR code confirming that the food is halal at each stage of the supply chain.

The future of meat

Pre-pandemic forecasts indicated that the blockchain market in the food distribution chain should reach $430 million by 2023, according to a report by ResearchandMarkets.com. New health barriers and certification requirements are expected to be created from the COVID-19 pandemic. This will be even more valid for meat, given the suspicions that still hang over the scientific world about the animal origin of the virus. Those companies that invest now in blockchain solutions to gain the confidence of their customers and protect their reputation will certainly come out ahead.

Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.