In order to improve the traceability of its own coffee brand “Zoégas”, Nestlé is expanding the use of the IBM’s Food Trust blockchain and entering into a cooperation with the Rainforest Alliance.

Zoega’s coffee packaging is labelled with QR codes

According to the company, the IBM Food Trust blockchain will provide consumers with more detailed information about the logistics processes. As part of this, Zoégas brand coffee packaging sold in Sweden will be labelled with QR codes. These can provide customers with various types of information, such as the distance the coffee beans have travelled from harvest to the supermarket

Merger with Rainforest Alliance

For the first time, Nestlé has partnered with a trusted third party – the Rainforest Alliance – to independently provide reliable data beyond what the company normally discloses. The Rainforest Alliance provides its own certification information, ensuring the traceability of the coffee. This information is directly accessible to everyone through the IBM’s Food Trust Blockchain platform.

The Rainforest Alliance is a non-profit organization dedicated to the certification of sustainable products. Nestlé has been a founding member of the IBM Food Trust since 2017 and has continuously expanded the use of blockchain platforms over the past three years.

Through these efforts, Nestlé aims to achieve a higher level of transparency and sustainability for its customers. The company is not only striving to bring its own coffee onto the blockchain, but has also worked on linking it with other products. For example, blockchain is already available for mouseline puree or Guigoz infant food in France.

Joint project launched on the sustainability of milk and palm oil

The much-discussed issue of palm oil has also prompted Nestlé to launch a pilot project for an open blockchain. The joint project with the supplier OpenSC is currently underway and is intended to provide data on the sustainability of milk and palm oil.

Starbucks also uses blockchain for traceable supply chains

The traceability of coffee by means of blockchain can currently be observed more and more frequently. The US company Starbucks, for example, is working with Microsoft’s Azure Blockchain, which is designed to inform customers from farm to cup.

*Originally published in German at CVJ.ch