In a world where more consumers are taking a social-impact approach to their shopping behaviors, blockchain technology is revolutionizing the supply chain industry, and giving consumers the transparency they are looking for. With coffee being the most popular beverage in the world, how are people leveraging the blockchain for transparency, traceability, and equality?
Blockchain And Supply Chain
The supply chain logistics market has become one of the most lucrative markets to apply blockchain technology. In a world where we depend on products getting from point A to point B, many consumers would argue that there are tremendous flaws regarding transparency, traceability, and equality. Companies around the globe understand the potential of blockchain technology, and we have seen many big players working with the infrastructure this year. From pharmaceutical markets to food markets, some of the largest companies in the world like IBM and Walmart have been involved in blockchain.
Aside from corporations applying blockchain technology, how is the everyday consumer starting to get involved?
Tracking Coffee On The Blockchain
According to reports, it is estimated that 150 million people drink coffee every day. This is equivalent to about 50% of Americans over the age of 18. Coffee is the most popular beverage in the world, and many consumers interested in social impacts want to understand where their coffee is coming from. Companies like iFinca are changing the way consumers approach the coffee industry. By digitizing the coffee supply chain through blockchain, iFinca is fueling economic and social impacts.
iFinca
Through the web and mobile based applications, iFinca has used blockchain infrastructure to digitize coffee supply chain. In an environment where consumers value social impact and ethically sourced products, iFinca provides transparency and traceability. With the iFinca proprietary SaaS, consumers can scan a QR code to understand the coffee production cycle.
Why Is This Important?
Despite 150M+ people enjoying their coffee on a daily basis, farmers around the globe struggle to stay afloat. The coffee markets have seen deteriorating profit margins as farmers struggle to solely support their families through coffee farming. Many consumers that value social impact understand this, and are looking for ways to support the global issue.
iFinca
The iFinca proprietary SaaS applies artificial intelligence to create Self-Sovereign-Identities for farmers. With this being said, consumers are able to see details on farmers through scanning the QR code during the point of sale. This transparency gives buyers the opportunity to see what farmers were paid to produce. Coffee producers continue to see their compensation decrease, as many are being exploited and under paid. Consumers on the iFinca app can explore various producers, and contribute to the ones that are making the least amount of money. Through the iFinca experience, consumers valuing social and economic impact have the ability to help farmers increase their profit margins, which will ultimately help these hard working people provide for their loved ones.
TRC Specialty Commodities and iFinca
In recent developments, iFinca announced that they were collaborating with TRC Specialty Coffee, in a push to change the way people track their coffee. By leveraging CoffeeChain technology, consumers will be exposed to transparency, traceability, and equality in the supply chain. It is important to note that CoffeeChain technology is the proprietary distributed ledger technology that the iFinca app uses to protect data. The TRC Group originated in 1993, when they first focused on the rice and cereal trading business. Since inception, TRC Group has evolved into a global agricultural commodity trading company.
Regarding the announcement, a trader at TRC, Jay Baxter stated that:
“We know that our clients are increasingly demanding transparency in the supply chain; specifically, who is the producer and what amount did they receive for their crop. We have been committed to helping promote this as part of our coffee transparency strategy. Our work with iFinca not only helps connect coffee lovers to the producers who provide their favorite drink, it also gives them the opportunity to understand the monetary value received by the coffee farmer.”
Image Source: Unsplash
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