First it was chicken, then tomatoes, then eggs, and oranges. Now French supermarket giant Carrefour is back applying blockchain technology in tracking the supply chain this time for milk.

In a press release (Mar 1), it said that beginning this month its Carrefour Quality Line (CQL) fresh micro-filtered full-fat milk will leverage the blockchain to “guarantee” consumers “complete” product traceability.

Customers are able to use their smartphones scan a QR code to trace CQL milk across its entire supply chain. They will be able to know extensive and in-depth information about the milk they buy such as which farms the milk comes from, all the way until it gets stocked onto Carrefour’s shelves.

They can see the GPS coordinates of the farmers whose cows have their milk collected, get information about the cows’ feeds depending on the season, find out exactly when the milk was collected, and where it was packaged.

Blockchain technology will also be used to identify the various stakeholders involved in the whole product line – down to their names and photographs – and find out about how they do what they do, from livestock rearing practices, to using microfiltration for milk storage, and conducting quality checks.

In October last year, Carrefour joined IBM’s blockchain food tracking network called Food Trust where retailers and suppliers track individual food products. Other major food industry players such as Nestle, Dole Food, Driscoll’s, McCormick and Co., Tyson Foods, and Unilever joined the trial phase of Food Trust back in 2017.