Why blockchain is the future for food

There’s a great podcast called Flash Forward, which covers concepts of tomorrow, such as superfast healing bandages, getting paid for your personal data and the future of diplomacy if leaders couldn’t lie.

In today’s reflection I’m doing my own flash forward to how blockchain could increase demand for and assurance of Scotland’s food.

My interest in the technology has been sparked by Marieke de Ruyter de Wildt of the New Fork and Paul Mayfield at SAC Consulting – both see a bright future for food integrity.

The concept is that with blockchain – an encrypted digital record of data and transactions – we can track the origins, ethics and assurance of a food product and also its story, its advocates and its community.

Applications of the technology can benefit farmers by tackling food fraud, like passing off cheap, low-grade vegetable oil as olive oil, or horse meat as beef.

It can be used to build consumer following – for example, there is a blockchain-based app that allows a consumer to choose to pay a farmer more for the milk they have bought.

For consumers seeking safe food – free of allergens or contamination – trust that the product is what the label states is where blockchain will play an increasingly important role.

And for farmers, using blockchain to record and embed solid data submissions for all produce sold could increase price paid, with the right contract agreements.

So, flashing forward as we look to build our international trade relations, how could blockchain help Scotland’s food and drink producers?

Greatly, I would say. Embedded in Scottish food is its quality and the iconic brand story of our country. We know our seed potatoes are the best in the world, our iconic Scotch meat brands demonstrate provenance, quality and conjure up images of the majestic landscape on which it was reared.

Consumers investing in a quality brand want to know a deeper, truer story of its origin, how it is made and by who.

Jane Craigie runs a marketing company specialising in working with agri-food and rural businesses.

TRACING QUALITY: Blockchain can help consumers trace food’s origins and even help them pay farmers more