In a first for France, Carrefour is using blockchain technology to guarantee its consumers authentic Auvergne chicken, the supermarket chain announced on Tuesday. Carrefour is aiming for complete product traceability for one of its most iconic offerings and plans to use the same process for eight more animal and vegetable product lines, such as eggs, cheese, milk, oranges, tomatoes, salmon and ground beef steak.
More than one million Carrefour Quality Line Auvergne chickens are sold every year, according to the retailer. Each product’s label will now feature a QR Code which consumers will be able to scan using their smartphones, to guarantee the provenance of the poultry.
Consumers will be able to find out where and how each animal was reared, the name of the farmer, what feed was used (whether or not the chickens were fed on French cereals and soya beans, on GMO-free products, etc.), what treatments were used (antibiotic-free, etc.), any quality labels and where the birds were slaughtered.
Each and every party along the length of the supply chain (producers, processors and distributors) will provide traceability information about their particular role, said the retailer in a press release. Information will also be provided about dates, places, farm buildings, distribution channels, potential treatments and more, for each batch of the product.
Carrefour believes that blockchain technology will bring numerous benefits to the food sector: for consumers, it will meet an increasing need for transparency; for breeders, it’s a means to showcase what they produce and their expertise. Carrefour intends to use it to share a secure database with all of its partners and guarantee higher levels of food safety for its customers, it said, in a statement. This will provide them with information about the product and the journey it has taken – from where it was reared right up to when it was placed on the shelves.
“[To] become the leader of food transition for everyone is the aim that [Carrefour CEO] Alexandre Bompard has set for the Carrefour group. Making use of blockchain technology is an exemplary step in meeting this aim. This is a first in Europe and will provide consumers with guaranteed complete transparency as far as the traceability of our products is concerned”, stated Laurent Vallée, Carrefour’s general secretary and head of quality and food safety.
