The food industry can save up to $31 billion in global fraud savings by trailing food on its route from farms to consumers through the blockchain.

Juniper Research reveals that blockchain technology, in combination with the ‘Internet of Things ‘(IoT) sensors and trackers, will significantly decrease retailers’ costs. It will do so by streamlining supply chains, while explaining regulatory compliance, contributing more efficient food recalls, and tackling fraud.

The study designates the improved adoption of blockchain, and IoT in the supply chain industry will add meaningful value to the food business’s supply chain. By accumulating these innovative technologies, the food industry could pile up to $31 billion in food fraud savings in just five years. 

Research author, ‘Dr. Morgane Kimmich’ said,

“Today, efficiency and transparency in the food supply chain are bounded by opaque data requiring each company to rely on mediators and paper-based records. Blockchain and the IoT provide an immutable, shared platform for all actors in the supply chain to track and trace assets, resources, saving time, and reducing fraud.”

Juniper’s research further shows that substantial savings in food fraud can be realized as early as ‘2021,’ while yielding costs reportedly can be reduced by 30% by ‘2024.’

Blockchain in the food and beverage industry

Blockchain and IoT, each bring their respective strengths, proceed to be adopted by the food and beverage industry. In the past few months, various organizations, including giants like Carrefour and Nestlé, have announced on their blockchain-powered initiatives within the field.

The most-adopted blockchain tracking solution within the field is IBM’s ‘Food Trust,’ which is based on the ‘Hyperledger Fabric blockchain protocol.’ The platform went live in October 2018, “millions of individual food products” were reportedly trailed by suppliers and retailers using the ‘Food Trust blockchain.’

Most recently, it was reported that smoked salmon producer ‘Labeyrie’ and salmon farming company ‘Cermaq’ were using IBM’s cloud blockchain technology to trail their product supply chains.