Building an ‘NFC’ App for Telos

In the context of this publication, NFC stands for Natural Fungi Cheese. And there is no other more appreciated in Spain than Cabrales Cheese, which is made in Asturias.

Asturias, Spain, is one of the world’s top 10 destinations for cheese lovers.
With over 40 different varieties, Asturias is the largest cheese producing region in Europe. Not surprisingly, the next World Cheese Awards will take place in Oviedo, as part of the Asturias Paraíso Natural International Cheese Festival from the 3rd to the 6th of November, 2021.

The festival will have spaces to initiate business relationships between producers and buyers and will count on the participation of Spanish and international producers of Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) cheese, internationally recognized chefs, universities and cheese and gastronomy companies.

And this event will also be a great opportunity to showcase the new ‘NFC’ application that we have developed for cheese producing companies, starting with Vega de Tordín, a renowned PDO Cabrales cheese producer. This SME has received a grant from the EU’s S3FOOD programme, which verifies that the project is progressing well.

Above: The cheese factory front. Below: One of the cheese ageing caves.

In our effort to introduce digital innovation in the agri-food industry, The Teloscope follows the successful path already started with the cider industry. We have chosen to work with Vega de Tordín due to the importance of their processes in the quality of their cheese. These processes are traditional and typical of the Picos de Europa region, where the natural caves in the limestone landscape create the perfect conditions for the growth of the Penicillium roqueforti mold. This fungus gives its characteristic colour and taste to blue cheeses such as Cabrales, Roquefort and Gorgonzola.

The natural extensive pastures for the cattle and the ageing process are key for the quality of Cabrales cheese. And that is what we intend to capture in the software. The cheese ageing process varies according to the particular cave and the time spent in it. For this reason, Vega de Tordín markets its Cabrales PDO cheese under three different brands or grades: Standard, Selected and Reserve. The differences and relevance of the traditional production methods are what we highlight in the user app.

App timeline preview

As shown, users can get the information about the production of the cheese, starting with the origin of the milk used and its pertinent analysis. This analysis assures both the quality of the milk and the well being of the cattle, indicated by the somatic cells measures noting that the cattle is free of bacteria.

We are about to conclude the final testing phase with the cheese company, so we will soon launch the Telos-based application in public. The data will then be recorded directly on the Telos public mainnet blockchain. This will give great confidence to consumers, who will be able to also check with an independent block explorer the data displayed by the app.

What agri-food product do you guess we will ‘blockchanise’ next?

This article has been produced by members of The Teloscope team. You can also check previous articles from The Teloscope.

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