World Bee Project has partnered with Oracle to build a blockchain-powered tracking system for honey supply chain. The software behemoth will assist WBP in creating a “BeeMark” trademark, ensuring honey produce is from environmentally friendly and renewable sources.
All those partakers in the honey supply chain can store relevant data in a distributed ledger technology (DLT), which is built using Oracle Blockchain Platform. Since the uploaded data cannot be tampered, the traded honey can be traced from hive to retail store.
The BeeMark will also use data science to track information such as the percentage of farmer’s land used to cultivate biodiverse plants. The initiative is part of an extensive endeavor with WBP, which intends to study the reasons behind decline in bee population and offer solutions for its sustainability.
The decline in the bee population is worrying. A majority of food and plants is dependent on insect pollination to procreate. Specifically, honeybees are suffering. Their numbers have dwindled by a quarter in Europe since 1999. Similarly, honeybee population in the US has seen a 40% fall since 2008.
Being the basic pollinators in the agriculture ecosystem, the decline increases risk related to food production.
Along with the creation of BeeMark, oracle will implement the technology in beehives across the globe to trace their conduct and wellness. Tracking acoustic signals, for example, can provide beekeeper 21 days of migration. Oracle has already joined hands with the WBP to utilize blockchain to recognize fake honey.
Data received from suppliers and saved on the Oracle Blockchain Platform assists in ensuring that honey remains unadulterated in the course of its journey to the retail vendor’s location.
While the first stage of the project guarantees genuineness of the venture, the recent advancement aims at renewability and eco friendliness.
Sustainability holds a lot of importance in food tracking. Notably, Nestle became the first food product related company to become a member of WWF’s OpenSC, which was established to boost food source sustainability. By capitalizing on blockchain technology, the system facilitates clients to validate the origins of the goods they are buying.
IBM’s Food Trust Network has brought together major firms such as Walmart, Carrefour and Nestle to enhance food tracking via blockchain technology. Nestle has collaborated with OpenSC, a blockchain startup, to incorporate supply chain tracking. In April, Nestle also joined hands with IBM’s Food Trust, which is also a blockchain-based initiative focused on tracking food products.
Of late, Walmart China launched a collaboration with VeChain to trace produce through the latter’s Thor blockchain. VeChain has stated that a considerable portion of Walmart China’s produce will be monitored:
“It is expected that the Walmart China’s traceability system will see traceable fresh meat account for 50% of the total sales of packaged fresh meat, traceable vegetables will account for 40% of the total sales of packaged vegetables, traceable seafood will account for 12.5% of the total sales of seafood by the end of 2020.”
