Carrefour, Nestlé Use IBM’s Blockchain Platform to Track Infant Formula

Retail giants Carrefour and Nestlé are now using IBM’s Food Trust blockchain platform to track the supply chain of milk-based formula for infants, according to a Nov. 14 announcement.

By using the platform, the firms aim to advance consumer confidence in the products’ quality by ensuring more transparency of the entire supply chain of formulas produced by Laboratoires Guigoz. The system aims to improve supply chain transparency and conduct checks of infant nutrition products’ origins.

Implementation of blockchain-based tracking systems by retail giants

Both Carrefour and Nestlé are not new to the application of blockchain in their internal processes. The companies began using IBM’s blockchain technology in April in order to track the supply chain of Mousline, a well-known brand of instant mashed potatoes.

Also this spring, Carrefour rolled out a blockchain-powered product, Carrefour Quality Line micro-filtered full-fat milk.

Carrefour reported an increase in sales after a number of blockchain implementations that tracked the supply chains of a range of different products including meat, milk and fruit. The increased traceability purportedly allowed customers to avoid products that contained genetically modified organisms, antibiotics, and pesticides.

Blockchain addresses fraud in supply chains

Blockchain technology has proven to be a boon for the logistics industry and has applications in many different areas of supply chain management. As previously reported in a dedicated analysis, blockchain solves the problem of accounting fraud in supply chains by creating blocks of records that cannot be altered.