China Shipbuilding Industry Company Limited (CSICL) is going to explore how it can apply blockchain to financing its upstream suppliers, reports official Chinese newspaper People’s Daily on March 27. CSICL is a subsidiary of one of the two largest Chinese shipping conglomerates, China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC). CSICL signed a strategic cooperation agreement on supply chain services with Shanghai Bank. Per the terms of the agreement, CSICL and Shanghai Bank will purportedly develop an blockchain-based online supply chain finance platform for upstream suppliers of CSIC. The platform would ostensibly provide financing for supply chains servicing the firm’s 10 major product …

The Coffee Board of India has launched a pilot blockchain-based e-marketplace in order to integrate coffee farmers with markets. The development was announced by Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MCI) on March 28. The Coffee Board — an organization backed by the MCI to promote coffee production in India — has rolled out an e-marketplace for coffee producers in order to reduce the number of intermediaries between coffee growers and buyers. The product will reportedly be delivered in the form of an application and aims to improve transparency and traceability of coffee produced in India “from bean to cup.” …

United Kingdom-based global metals trading mecca the London Metals Exchange (LME) is reportedly backing an effort to disrupt industry supply chains with blockchain, but would not confirm its involvement, the Financial Times (FT) reported on March 27. Citing unnamed sources familiar with the alleged plan, FT reported that LME is supportive of an international plan to use blockchain in order for the metals industry to increase transparency around its operations. The participants include Swiss metals giant Mercuria in the role of leader, with banks ING and Macquarie also on board. Dubbed “Forcefield,” the reported blockchain-based solution would also allow the …

French luxury goods giant Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE (LVMH) is reportedly working with ConsenSys and Microsoft Azure to develop a blockchain platform for tracking its products, crypto media agency CoinDesk reports on March 26. Dubbed AURA, the blockchain-powered platform is reportedly scheduled to go live in May or June 2019 with two major LVMH subsidiaries: Louis Vuitton and Parfums Christian Dior. Louis Vuitton is French fashion house founded in 1854 and known for its signature LV logo, while Parfums Christian Dior is the perfumery and cosmetics line of other French fashion house Christian Dior. According to the report, the …

Premium scotch whisky brand Ailsa Bay is reportedly about to release what it believes to be the world’s first scotch whisky tracked with a blockchain-based system. Liquor-related news website The Drinks Business reported on the development on March 26. Ailsa Bay is owned by William Grant & Sons (WG&S), a liquor company founded in 1887 that, according to Crunchbase, has a yearly revenue of about $80 million. Per the report, WG&S has partnered with blockchain company arc-net to develop the new products and a system that will track the complete distilling and manufacturing process from the source to the store. …

Major American postal carrier UPS and e-commerce technology company Inxeption have jointly rolled out a blockchain-powered platform to improve merchant supply chains. The development was announced in a press release published on March 21. The new blockchain platform dubbed Inxeption Zippy is designed to help companies list, market and distribute their products to customers. The platform purportedly enables merchants to monitor the entire supply chain from product listing to delivery, ensuring that sensitive data like contract-specific pricing and rates are only accessible to the buyer and seller. By using the platform, merchants will purportedly be able to upload product information, …

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 …

North America’s largest branded shelf-stable seafood firm Bumble Bee Foods has launched a blockchain platform for seafood traceability. The project was created in collaboration with German tech company SAP specializing in enterprise software, according to a press release on March 8. Based on SAP Cloud Platform Blockchain service, the new platform can purportedly monitor the supply chain of yellowfin tuna from Indonesia to end customers. The announcement was made at the annual industry conglomerate South by Southwest Conference (SXSW) that is taking place from March 8 to March 17 in Austin, Texas, United States. Customers will purportedly be able to …

French retail giant Carrefour has continued blockchain development by applying the technology for tracking milk, according to a press release published on March 1. Starting from March, the retail giant is gradually rolling out its new blockchain-powered product, Carrefour Quality Line (CQL) micro-filtered full-fat milk. CQL is touted to guarantee consumers complete product traceability across the entire supply chain — from farmers to the store shelves. With CQL, consumers will be able to see the GPS coordinates of farmers whose animals’ milk was collected, get information about when the milk was collected and packaged, as well as find out about …

Global professional services firm Accenture is working with major global firms including Mastercard to introduce a blockchain-based circular supply chain, according to a press release published on Feb. 25. An active user of blockchain and digital ledger technology, Accenture now intends to employ the tech as a key component to boost the circular supply chain. The term circular supply chain encompasses all stages on the supply chain, from the beginning to the end, in order to eliminate waste and improve sustainability for the environment. Within the announced initiative, Accenture is collaborating with major global companies including cloud computing firm Amazon …

German automobile brand Mercedes-Benz Car has developed a platform based on blockchain technology to increase transparency and sustainability in complex supply chains, according to press release published on Feb. 25. Mercedes-Benz, a division of Daimler AG, a German multinational automotive corporation, has partnered with United States-based software company Icertis for cooperating in the development of blockchain tech for supply chain use. Mercedes-Benz has announced that that they have jointly developed and programmed a prototype with Icertis based on blockchain technology that allows for the storage of documentations and contracts in complex supply chains. The project allows for the creation of …

French President Emmanuel Macron has advocated the use of blockchain to innovate supply chain management in the European agriculture industry. The president made his remarks during the 56th International Agriculture Fair in Paris on Saturday, Togolese agriculture news site Agridigitale reported on Feb. 23. Macron called for unity among European nations to counter competition from global markets in China, Russia and the United States, underscoring the importance of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in this regard. He identified three broad strategies to advance the continent’s agricultural industry and maintain a competitive edge, affirming that “no farmer or consumer wants …