The global food giant Nestlé is partnering with OpenSC to use blockchain technology in tracking its supply chain.

OpenSC, founded by the WWF and the Boston Consulting Group Digital Ventures, is a supply chain food provenance blockchain platform. The distributed ledger system that OpenSC developed will operate separately from Nestlé’s current joint system with IBM Food Trust blockchain.

The OpenSC platform, by utilizing blockchain technology, is able to help consumers access and verify supply chain data and sustainability.

According to Nestlé’s statement, by implementing the project, the firm becomes the first “major food and beverage company to announce that it will pilot open blockchain technology in this way.”

Initially, the program is going to trace milk products from New Zealand to the firm’s factories and warehouses in the Middle East. Moreover, palm oil products, originally from the American Continent, will also be brought in to test the scalability of the system. 

“This open blockchain technology will allow anyone, anywhere in the world to assess our responsible sourcing facts and figures.” said Global Head of Responsible Sourcing at Nestlé Benjamin Ware.

Earlier, major French hypermarket chain Carrefour has reportedly joined forces with Swiss food giant Nestlé, and technology behemoth IBM to use blockchain to track track a brand of mashed potatoes. Launched in Oct 2018, IBM’s Food Trust ecosystem has reportedly incorporated with more than 80 brands, including business giants such as Walmart, Nestle, Dole Food, Tyson Foods, Kroger, and Unilever. According to its press release, over five million food products have used the blockchain system for their delivery process.