Blockchain, Coffee, and Cocoa

Tech giants around the world offer blockchain implementations to increase transparency and trust among network members. Let's consider the case of the "blue giant," the American company IBM.

In Honduras, IBM is working with Heifer International to create a new ecosystem through the IBM Food Trust and the IBM Watson Decision Platform for Agriculture.

IBM Food Trust is the first food safety blockchain solution that enables transaction partners to confidently and securely share food information, creating a more transparent and reliable global food supply chain.

Thus, blockchain helps farmers and buyers track coffee and cocoa beans from farm to sales outlets, increasing the transparency of the entire supply chain and expanding access to markets. The Food Trust technology is currently being used by COPRANIL coffee farmers and cocoa farmers at the Chocolate4All project.

The COPRANIL cooperative produced about 1.6 million pounds of coffee beans last year. Improving quality and traceability can help farmers get a fair price for their high-quality beans and increase the economic resilience of coffee-growing communities.

The process begins with Heifer International uploading information about the seedlings sent to the farmers. After harvest, farmers label and ship their beans to COPRANIL processors. COPRANIL loads additional data on beans into the blockchain, including whether the beans are peeled, dried, roasted, and whether they meet the fair trade criteria of organic or other specifications. This information is then passed on to corporate buyers, who can also access data on the beans to understand their prices.

The Food Trust will also track the cocoa beans, all the way up to the bulk sales of dried beans to Chocolate Halba. Food Trust will replace the traceability files currently stored in Excel spreadsheets. With Food Trust, farmers will be able to trace the origin of cocoa, ensuring the integration of all producers in the market.