IBM has unveiled a new blockchain powered traceability platform allowing consumers to trace their coffee right back to its source and offer support for farmers.
The new ‘Thank My Farmer’ mobile app was developed with companies across the global supply chain including Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE), The J.M. Smucker Company, Rabobank and Yara International among others.
Powered by IBM Blockchain, the app is designed to help increase traceability, efficiency and fairness in the coffee supply chain.
It allows coffee drinkers to trace their coffee to understand its quality and origin, and even support the farmer who grew the beans as well as their local community.
The app is based on Farmer Connect, a traceability platform powered by IBM Blockchain designed to help increase traceability, efficiency and fairness in the coffee supply chain.
It connects the user to farmers, traders, roasters and brands. The information is presented on an interactive map, allowing each product to tell a story in a simple and scalable way. The app also presents sustainability projects in coffee communities and an opportunity for consumers to support them.
Each network participant has an exact copy of the data, and additions to the blockchain are shared throughout the network based on each participant’s level of permission. Farmers, wholesalers, traders and retailers can interact more efficiently using comprehensive, near real-time access to this data, and consumers can have new insights about the origins of the products they consume.
“The aim is humanising each coffee drinker’s relationship with their daily cup,” said David Behrends, founder and President of Farmer Connect.
“Consumers now can play an active role in sustainability governance by supporting coffee farmers in developing nations. Through the blockchain and this consumer app, we’re creating a virtuous cycle.”
As the app expands in 2020, large and small companies will be invited to join, and coffee drinkers will be able to support the communities where their coffee is grown by funding local projects.
