Carrefour brings blockchain tech to Belgium and Italy

Carrefour Belgium is using blockchain to track meat, while Carrefour Italy is tapping the technology for citrus fruit.

The former has teamed with inspection body, Vinçotte, and is initially digitising its ‘Porc d’antan’ supply chain, which is part of the Filière Qualité Carrefour range. The solution developed relies on a QR code that is affixed to a product during the packaging process. The code can be scanned with a smartphone, and will reveal the entire lifecycle of the product, from the farm to the store, on a webpage. The data is stored in a blockchain.

“The application will enable stakeholders to react more quickly and even more accurately to potential problems in the supply chain, thus ensuring better overall food security, ” says Marco Croon, CEO of Vinçotte.

Carrefour Italy, meanwhile, has applied blockchain tech to Tarocco oranges and Sicilian lemons. Giovanni Panzeri, MDD manager for Carrefour Italia, comments: “We are very proud of the results we achieved through blockchain technology. This aroused much curiosity in customers who are increasingly careful about supply chain products’ transparency. Further, it represented a very important involvement of our producers who happily joined our mission.”

Last year, Carrefour adopted blockchain tech to track and trace the supply chain of its chicken, eggs, and tomatoes.