I’m not a huge fan of blockchain, but one of the more plausible use cases for the technology is proving the providence of various items.  This has particular pertinence in the food industry, where proving not only the ingredients of foodstuff but their location can be crucial to the value of the item.

Ripe.io are a startup who aim to do just that by combining blockchain technology with the Internet of Things (IoT) to transparently track food products via a real-time data feed.

The company, which recently raised $2.4 million aims to digitize the food supply chain.  They’ve already developed an ‘Internet of Tomatoes’, which harvests a wealth of data pertaining to tomatoes to help farms grow them more effectively.

Transparent food supply

Now, the company want to develop a system whereby data about food is captured using sensors and stored using blockchain.  The system would create greater transparency between growers, distributors and other parts of the supply chain.

The company believe that certain forms of data could be bundled together and shared between common stakeholders.  This data would typically be related to a particular food type or product, and then shared securely with all of the stakeholders in the value chain.

The startup already have a number of partners signed up, including shipping giant Maersk and the food innovation hub Relish Works.  They believe that the platform could ultimately allow the supply chain to easily and securely share information on all manner of food-related things, including quality, taste, food safety and transportation.

The ability to provide reliable and transparent data about the food we eat does appear to have merit, but whether platforms like Ripe will facilitate that remains to be seen.