Mastercard partners on blockchain-based food supply chain

Mastercard is partnering with food track-and-trace software provider Envisible to create a blockchain-based supply chain platform to help supermarkets trace the origin of seafood.

Envisible’s new Wholechain traceability system will be powered by Mastercard’s blockchain-based Provenance service; it’s designed to give grocery partners more insight into the ethical sourcing and environmental compliance of the seafood sold at their stores.

Topco‘s member grocery chains, starting with Food City, will be the first to use the supply chain ledger. The first of several species to be tracked will be salmon, cod and shrimp.

“Companies in fragmented supply chains make it harder to see end-to-end traceability,” said Deborah Barta, senior vice president, Innovation and Startup Engagement, at Mastercard. “We thought, what if we brought blockchain in to track from the origin of goods to consumer’s hands and give the ability to see ethical sourcing, compliance and enable consumers to discover the journey of the products they’re buying.”

Wholechain is a “production-grade system” – not a proof of concept or pilot, Barta said.

Customers at Topco’s stores will begin seeing QR codes on seafood and by scanning the codes with their smartphone’s camera, they can access background information about where the fish were caught and the journey to the store.