As we are close to the launch of our blockchain, we prepared a roadmap which describes the major steps we need to accomplish.

Technology

We published earlier, that considering the current technological state barriers of blockchain technology, and the fast pace of progress at the same time, it’s too early for us to build a long term solution. A lot of advancement is required on the basic framework/protocol level, which is beyond the scope of a targeted project like ours.

This is why we decided to launch the initial version of TE-FOOD’s blockchain with a 12–18 months expected lifespan. We believe that blockchain technology will be more mature by that time, more capable of thinking in longer terms. We will start working with potential framework providers like TomoChain on this longer term solution.

As we have more time to select the proper framework for our long term solution, we focused on the development of the first version of it. After thorough research, SWOT analysis comparations, and tests, we narrowed the possible frameworks to Ethereum and HyperLedger.

After a lot of consideration, our blockchain development team opted to build it on HyperLedger. The reasons were its enterprise readiness, the possibility for DApps to use Golang/Node.js within ChainCode, its scalability, and its permissioned approach, which was important for all supply chain companies we talked to.

FoodChain

For many reasons we planned to name our blockchain, so we can stop referring to it as “our own blockchain”.

We tried several versions, but we didn’t really like any of them. FoodChain was a name our community suggested for a long time. It’s clean, simple, and tells everything. So our blockchain will be officially called:

Roadmap

Publishing masternode condition details

28/09/2018

We publish the details of the masternode conditions, including the number of starting Operational Masternodes within each tier, data to estimate possible revenues, and hardware configurations for the tiers.

Testnet release

12/10/2018

This step contains the release of our testnet, a block explorer, and test transactions. The most obvious sources of test transactions will be our operational system and our pilots.

FoodChain beta release (on temporary nodes)

26/10/2018

There are several technical and business reasons to start our live operations on temporary nodes managed by our team. As there are a lot of changes in the processes of the new system (besides the technology), and soon we plan to migrate huge traffic to it, there are a number of factors we can’t estimate prior to channeling them to the new system.

Our temporary nodes won’t be competitors to the planned masternodes, they act as an initial infrastructure to control all parts of the system.

Migrating Traceability Document Repository of the Vietnam operations to the FoodChain

26/10/2018

Traceability Documents are journal documents generated from the traceability data, which are displayed for the consumers, when they use the mobile app. These are summaries of the traceability information collected during the product’s journey throughout the supply chain.

These documents are currently available on blockchain for pigs (on the Rinkeby network) and for chickens (on the TomoChain testnet).

Migrating ongoing pilots to the FoodChain

30/10/2018

We migrate ongoing pilots to the FoodChain. Since the pilots are not yet in their final phase (the animals are tracked and growing, but not yet processed), migrating them makes sense from business viewpoint.

Masternode selection, legal onboarding (KYC, contracting)

15/10/2018

We make the masternode selection according to the conditions offered in the applications, and start the legal side of the onboarding on a dedicated portal.

Masternode technical onboarding (setup)

From 12/11/2018

After all masternode operators finished the legal onboarding, the technical onboarding will be launched in more phases. First just a small number of masternodes will be integrated, then it will be rolled out to all contracted masternodes within some weeks.

Implementing contracted (but not yet published) pilots into the FoodChain

22/11/2018

We run pilots we still can’t talk about publicly due to the service contracts. Some of these pilots will come to a state that they can be published during November. We will migrate them to the FoodChain in this step.

Migrating all data of the Vietnam operations to the FoodChain

22/12/2018

All B2B data which is tracked throughout the supply chain will be migrated to the FoodChain. This won’t contain historical data, only the new ones. As there are thousands of companies using TE-FOOD on a daily basis, we have to be very careful with this step, so we expect total migration will take some weeks.

Until the end of the year, TE-FOOD will be completely blockchain based. This will be one of the biggest steps in our 3 years journey. Exciting times ahead!