US National Pork Board to Pilot Blockchain Tech Following New Partnership

The United States National Pork Board has partnered with blockchain startup ripe.io to test out a blockchain platform for pork supply chains, according to a press release published on March 18.

The collaboration will ostensibly enable the Board to use a blockchain-based ecosystem to monitor and evaluate sustainability practices, food safety standards, livestock health, and environmental protections.

The platform will purportedly provide insight into the production environment of pork, making it transparent and allowing parties to ensure valid certifications. According to ripe.io, the information in the system will stay anonymous.

Raja Ramachandran, co-founder of ripe.io, revealed that “through blockchain, customers like the National Pork Board can enable its organization and members to create shared, immutable trusted records that address critical food issues such as sustainability, quality, traceability, waste and fraud.”

Waste from large-scale pig farming has become an issue of concern for residents of states like Iowa and North Carolina, where the industry has a significant presence. The vast amount of waste created by pig farms has reportedly affected the groundwater in several areas.

Blockchain technology has been deployed by many companies around the world in order to enable greater supply chain efficiency. Recently, North America’s largest branded shelf-stable seafood firm Bumble Bee Foods launched a blockchain platform for seafood traceability in partnership with German tech company SAP. The new platform can purportedly monitor the supply chain of yellowfin tuna from Indonesia to end customers.

Recently, French retail giant Carrefour continued rolling out its new blockchain-powered product, Carrefour Quality Line (CQL) for micro-filtered full-fat milk. CQL is touted to guarantee consumers complete product traceability across the entire supply chain.