French Retail Chain Carrefour Reports Increase In Sales After Adoption Of Blockchain Based Tracking System

By Rishma Banerjee

According to reports by Reuters, which were released on 3rd June 2018 the French retail giant Carrefour has seen an increase in sales after the implementation of a blockchain-based tracking system. The blockchain tracking system allows customers to track the supply chain of 20 items, including milk, meat, and fruit from farms to stores, thus avoiding products with genetically modified organisms, antibiotics, and pesticides. This year, the company reportedly plans to add 100 more products, including non-food lines, to the system.

Emmanuel Delerm, Carrefour’s blockchain project manager, when asked about the same said,

“the pomelo sold faster than the year before due to blockchain. We had a positive impact on the chicken versus the non-blockchain chicken…”

The company also reportedly said that the tracking system had seen the most extensive usage in China, followed by Italy and France. Delerm, in this regard, said,

“Millennials are buying less but buying better products for their health, for the planet.”

Carrefour had in the initial stages of the development of the tracking system been working in collaboration with IBM by becoming a part of IBM’s blockchain-based food tracking network. They were not the only ones to join IBM’s Food Trust last year but were joined by several other supermarket chains and retail companies like McCormick and Co., McLane Co.,  Nestle SA, Dole Food Co., Tyson Foods Inc., and Unilever NV, among others.

In mid-April, Carrefour collaborated with Switzerland-based food giant Nestlé to partner with IBM so as to use the latter’s blockchain technology for tracking the supply chain of Mousline, a well-known brand of instant mashed potatoes. The system enables consumers to check the varieties of potato used, the dates and places of manufacture, information on quality control, and locations and dates of storage.

Recently, Big Four audit firm EY revealed that it is now providing its proprietary blockchain solution for a significant new platform that helps consumers across Asia determine the quality, provenance and authenticity of imported European wines.