In partnership with Envisible and Topco, the global payment giant Mastercard is ready to revolutionize our food systems by shining more light into a rather opaque industry with a new blockchain network.
Deborah Barta, Mastercard’s senior vice president of innovation and startup engagement, commented about the new initiative:
“The identity of things is becoming even more important as consumers raise demands for transparency. Our provenance solution leverages Mastercard’s established network capabilities, globally-scaled technology, and services, such as payments and counterfeit programs. This allows us to deliver trust, financial inclusion and back-end efficiencies to the marketplace.”
This is 2019, when consumers are more conscious of what they eat than ever. With the rapid rise of life-threatening diseases such as cancer, consumers are being more mindful of what they eat.
While this has been the concern for some time now, it wasn’t until recently that blockchain-powered traceability mechanisms are being put in place to aid the much needed visibility. Before now, it was almost impossible to tell where your groceries were produced, how far it has traveled, and how many people handled it so far.
Thanks to the untold transparency of blockchain technology, Mastercard together with other big merchants has made it possible to quickly and easily tell where your food has been and how it was produced.
Adding to the growing list, Mastercard is poised to drive consumer trust via its blockchain-based Provenance Solution. Using Envisible’s Wholechain traceability system, the project aims to demystify the complex supply chain and provide an in-depth insight into seafood including cod, shrimp, and salmon.
Scott Caro, Senior Vice President of Fresh Topco, stated:
“Given consumers’ expectations for reliable information about the food that they eat, we’re excited to partner with Food City and Envisible on this trace and provenance solution pilot, and the promise of Envisible’s Wholechain solution.”
This extraordinary project is expected to kick start with Food City and then extend to other member grocery chains of Topco Associates LLC.
As a leading food cooperative with the sole aim of providing its members with the opportunity to trace and highlight the origin of seafood, it is a no-brainer that Topco Associates had to jump on this project. Undoubtedly, the project will greatly strengthen its program and help to achieve its goals.
Speaking on behalf of Food City (the first supermarket to enjoy this innovative initiative), Dan Glei, Food City’s executive ice president of the merchandising and marketing unit, stated:
“Using Envisible Wholechain, powered by Mastercard, our grocers will be able to stock shelves with confidence and also be able to pinpoint issues in the food chain during any unfortunate events such as recalls.”
