DC Velocity - Burris 2020

Seven supply chain industry experts weigh in on blockchain, sharing their unique perspectives regarding challenges and adoption, with a focus on the fresh-food supply chain.

ON JANUARY 4TH, 2011, PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA SIGNED INTO law the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). One provision of the Act stated that the “FDA will have access to records, including industry food safety plans and the records firms will be required to keep documenting implementation of their plans.” The intention of this mandate was clearly to safeguard the health and safety of the American public.

But there is a problem here. These records are stored all over the country on paper in file cabinets located in thousands of places. Currently, if there is a serious problem of contamination with, say, romaine lettuce, it can take the FDA anywhere from 45 to 60 days just to locate the records, with potentially thousands of farms under review for contamination. If these records were accessible through blockchain, the potential contaminated farms would be whittled down from thousands to less than 10, and identified within a matter of seconds.

Scenarios like this make a strong use case for blockchain, and it is why food supply chain industry leaders are focused on establishing a universally accepted blockchain platform, with particular focus on the fresh-food supply chain.

Building a blockchain ecosystem for the fresh-food supply chain is a seemingly insurmountable challenge to many of us in the industry. Luckily, there are people who do have a keen perspective on blockchain, with not only an optimistic view of it, but solutions as well. I recently had the opportunity to interview seven key supply chain thought leaders on the subject of blockchain and the fresh-food supply chain. Here’s what they had to say.