CES Farmer Connect, a startup which aims to tackle traceability in the farm-to-fork journey though IBM’s blockchain, has announced the launch of a new consumer-facing provenance app.
The app, called ‘Thank My Farmer’, will allow coffeedrinkers to trace their coffee, as well as support the farmer who grew thebeans. It will pull information directly from the blockchain – in this instancethe same technology behind IBM Food Trust – to present information around farmers,roasters, and brands. It will also offer information on sustainability projectsin coffee communities, and an option for consumers to support them.
The companies cited research – albeit from 2017 – by the Rainforest Alliance which argued two in three millennial consumers preferred to buy coffee which was sustainably grown and responsibly sourced. David Behrends, founder and president of Farmer Connect, said in a statement the aim was to create a ‘virtuous cycle’ with consumers playing an active role in sustainability governance.
There are various stakeholders who comprise Farmer Connect representingthe stages of the supply chain, including The Colombian Coffee Growers Federation(FNC), Rabobank, and Sucafina. The latter is the initiator of the project.
Food traceability and provenance as part of the supply chainremains one of the most enduring use cases for blockchain technologies. AsDouglas Horn, chief architect at Telos, put itat the Blockchain Expo Europeevent last year, the paradigm has changed from companies building ‘inherentlyprivate and permissioned’ solutions to going as far as possible the other way –from farming, to manufacturing, to retail, and then back to farming.
Hence the virtuous cycle. Indeed, with its defined processesand geographies, coffee can be seen as a standout use case. As this publicationhas previously reported, in April the IndianCommerce Ministry announced the launch of a blockchain-based coffeee-marketplace, while Starbuckshas been experimenting with Microsoft’s blockchain, focused more on customerexperience.
The launch at CES is something of interest given the year-startingLas Vegas extravaganza has previously been less-than-committal on blockchaintechnologies. Aside from Bitcoin billionaires showcasing their wares at theevent’s digital money forum, products and exhibitors were thin on the ground.
IBM was an exception to this last year, with CEO GinniRometty delivering a keynote featuring Charles Redfield, executive vicepresident of food at Walmart, one of the mostwell-known IBM blockchain customers.
Jason Kelly, general manager for blockchain services at IBM,said there should be more to come at this year’s CES. “CES has indeed been ashowcase for more blockchain technology this year, which is yet another indicatorthat the ‘blockchain tourism’ phase is over,” Kelly told The Block. “Morethan just a technology, this business capability for data is driving realbusiness value today for enterprises and consumers beyond the early days whenit was just associated with the world of crypto.”
Kelly said that IBM sees CES as ‘a great way to showcase’the company’s blockchain technologies, both on its own and in concert. “IBM isseeing blockchain act as a catalyst for AI, IoT, and automation across theindustry at large, from provenance of electronic components in the supplychain, to consumer confidence and trust in products and services, including ethicalsourcing and sustainability of what makes up those products,” he added.
You can find out more about the Thank My Farmer app by visiting here.
