After undergoing 18 months of in-house testing, IBM has reportedly launched its blockchain-enabled food tracking platform. Retail companies, food item suppliers, and wholesalers will now be able to use IBM’s distributed ledger technology-based (DLT) food traceability software.

Referred to as the IBM Food Trust platform, the food item tracking solution had so far only been introduced as a proof-of-concept and used in a limited number of pilots. As CryptoGlobe reported on September 25th, multinational retail firm Walmart announced that it would require (by September of 2019) all its suppliers to use IBM’s blockchain-powered Food Trust program to track all food items.

On Monday (October 8th), IBM announced that its solution-as-a-service (SaaS) cloud-based food tracking software was officially accessible to any organization looking to monitor products on their supply chains.

One Of The Very First Large-Scale Blockchain-Based Solutions

Notably, the deployment of IBM’s enterprise-level Food Trust platform makes it one of the very first companies to have introduced a production-ready blockchain-based solution on such a large scale.

Companies who have already signed up to use the Food Trust software include wholesale supplier BeefChain (a Wyoming-based beef producer), Smithfield Foods Inc (the world’s largest pork processor), and Dennick FruitSource (a distributor of fruit juice concentrates).

Other early adopters of the DLT-based food traceability program include Carrefour, a large French retail corporation with over 12,000 store locations in 33 different countries. Topco Associates, the largest American retail food GPO (Group Purchasing Organization), is also preparing to use IBM’s Food Trust platform.

Eliminating “Barriers” For Enterprise-Level Blockchains

Bridget van Kralingen, IBM’s SVP for its Global Industries, Platforms, and Blockchain efforts, told Forbes:

That collaborative approach is how the members of IBM Food Trust have shown blockchain can strengthen transparency and drive meaningful enhancements to food traceability. Ultimately, that provides business benefits for participants and a better and safer product for consumers.

Kralingen added:

The currency of trust today is transparency and achieving it in the area of food safety happens when responsibility is shared.

According to Kralingen, who previously worked at Deloitte Consulting as a senior financial services manager, IBM’s Food Trust program will help to eliminate “critical barriers” to implementing enterprise-level blockchain software.

These include developing a supportive ecosystem that has a viable business model, a proper governance system, secure data management, interoperability, and standardization.