Ugandan Company to Use Blockchain Technology to Trace Coffee Supply Chain
Carico Cafe Connoisseur, a Ugandan coffee company founded in 2016, has adopted distributed ledger technology (DLT) to aid in the certification of coffee shipments and give customers the confidence that their products are from the right source, according to a Business Daily report on January 25, 2019.
From Farm to Store with Blockchain Technology
Reportedly, the coffee company is now using blockchain technology to track coffee’s raw materials as it moves along the supply chain before getting to stores.
Per sources close to the matter, Carico now tracks delivery data of beans by farmers to collection centers, warehouses, inspection centers, and its final exportation through a distributed ledger.
Importantly, the initiative also makes it possible for consumers to trace the entire origin of the product including bean type, year of harvesting and the exact farm the beans were grown through a third party site, or by just scanning the QR on the coffee container with their smartphones.
Based on reports, the International Coffee Organisation (ICO) has rated Uganda the largest exporter of coffee in Africa, producing the highest quality beans in the continent.
DLT Integration will Benefit Farmers
Carico explained that integrating blockchain technology into its operations would be beneficial to the firm, the farmers harvesting the beans, and the consumers. For farmers, Carico claims that the innovation can give them a ten percent increase in income because customers are willing to pay more for a product when its origin is traceable.
Commenting on the development, Mwambu Wanendeya, CEO of Carico Carico Café Connoisseur, noted that:
“The idea is to give the consumer an appreciation of what happens on the journey and also to ensure that there are more linkages with the farmer.”
Despite the recent slump in the price of bitcoin and other cryptoassets built upon blockchain technology, adoption for both the nascent digital asset class and DLT is gradually picking up speed.
On October 4, 2018, BTCManager reported that the Ugandan government, in collaboration with Wala, were developing a blockchain-based renewable energy economy.
In related news, on January 19, 2019, BTCManager informed that HashCash, a financial technology firm powered by DLT, had expanded operations to South Africa, to help merchants process bitcoin payments in real-time.
