EMURGO, the global blockchain solutions provider and a founding entity of Cardano, recently announced the launch of the “EMURGO traceability solution” - an enterprise solution using blockchain technology to modernize existing supply chain traceability standards and add value to chain stakeholders supply and end consumers. . The EMURGO traceability solution is the first blockchain-based enterprise solution developed by the Enterprise unit of EMURGO. EMURGO has partnered with Blue Korintji Coffee, an environmentally responsible Indonesian coffee brand, which will be the first commercial enterprise to integrate EMURGO Traceability Solution into its coffee supply chain for the benefit of all stakeholders, including farmers and consumers.
This customized solution will take advantage of the Cardano blockchain to increase the visibility of purchase prices between stakeholders and ensure the immutability of the accumulated private information. Blue Korintji Coffee is also committed to giving back to farmers by pooling part of the sales revenues that have used this solution and by investing in the sustainability of production.
Coffee consumers will also be able to simply scan a QR code displayed in the cafe to access this information about the origin of their coffee.
CryptoSlate recently had the opportunity to speak with the CEO of EMURGO Indonesia, who is working on this solution. Murasaki leads the local Indonesian unit of the EMURGO group to drive regional adoption of blockchain solutions in the public and private sectors. Having secured mutual collaboration with some of the major local universities in Indonesia, EMURGO Indonesia focuses on blockchain education and explores real use cases of blockchain to enable citizens to provide greater economic opportunities .
Interview with Shunsuke Murasaki, CEO of EMURGO from EMURGO Indonesia
Tell us how EMURGO decided on traceability as an important use case to solve and why is the Cardano blockchain a good choice? Shunsuke Murasaki
We gathered detailed opinions from different industry partners to see what blockchain-based solutions we could offer to help add value to their existing businesses. We found that companies offering high-end consumer and B2B products such as Arabica coffee beans were looking for a simple and cost-effective way to verify the authenticity of their products from source to customer, as well as transparency on the market. whole supply chain process to increase the number of customers. trust and fair business practices. These needs were particularly important in emerging markets and industries with several different stakeholders in its supply chain,
Currently, traditional existing traceability methods used in supply chains are opaque and ineffective, mainly due to the globalized complexity of the supply chain which includes businesses of different sizes from different locations around the world, geographic complexities, the absence of a modern and secure administrative system. , Etc .
There are several examples in many different industries of the need for traceability solutions. For example, consumer and luxury goods are susceptible to counterfeiting; some white label products are inappropriately disguised under other brand names; poorly labeled food products are sold to consumers; and materials of illegal origin are sometimes found in everyday household items, among other problems in today's supply chain industries. These are due to a lack of effective traceability solutions on the market for companies and can be effectively treated by the qualities inherent in blockchain.
The EMURGO traceability solution is designed to solve this problem and add value by authenticating the origin of a product, guaranteeing transparency on the relevant data concerning supply chain practices and following the entire process 'a product or property from source to customer. This will bring consumer confidence and add increased brand value to participating stakeholders who choose to use a blockchain-based traceability solution.
We believe that given Cardano's research-oriented approach and its use by other world famous brands such as New Balance for traceability purposes, this is a natural fit as a base coat for a blockchain-based traceability solution.
Why was Indonesia chosen as the first place to test this new technology? Shunsuke Murasaki
To give an overview, Indonesia ranks 4th in the world for total coffee production and, according to a World Bank report, about 10 million people in Indonesia are economically involved in the coffee industry as parties stakeholders. The United States Department of Agriculture states in its recent report on coffee production in Indonesia “a burgeoning lifestyle of coffee consumption” with rising demand due to the expansion of coffee.
In fact, the next unicorn in Indonesia will come from the domestic coffee industry, which shows considerably increased consumer interest in coffee.
However, 96% (more than 2 million farmers) of the coffee produced in the country are small farmers who lack technological resources and receive little government support to properly benefit from this boom. Currently in the local coffee industry there is a complex network of producers, roasters, processors, logistics companies, cafes and other third parties. They do not have a shared IT infrastructure to streamline data processing while providing data immutability to all of these different stakeholders. This is the problem that leads to verification and trust difficulties between one actor and another, and between businesses and consumers.
How does the traceability solution work from a technical point of view? Shunsuke Murasaki
The EMURGO traceability solution is a tailor-made business solution designed to meet the diverse needs of our customers and designed to work with Cardano as a basic settlement layer. Each transaction in the supply chain is recorded and validated on site via a QR code.
For example, a shipment from a coffee roaster to a cafe is validated by scanning a specific QR code on a package upon delivery. This information is all entered, verified and transparent securely for all stakeholders using the EMURGO traceability solution.
What are some of the challenges when creating a blockchain traceability solution? Shunsuke Murasaki
Each industry and business has different needs depending on its products, consumers and other conditions. One of the main challenges is to assess the different needs of all stakeholders and find a tailor-made solution designed to meet all of their needs. It takes a long time to consult with stakeholders and gain a detailed understanding of their activities in order to design the most ideal solution.
Another challenge is the relative lack of awareness of how the blockchain can deliver benefits to businesses and consumers. Many believe that there is a big learning curve for understanding abstract technology, but EMURGO designs tailor-made solutions with blockchain as a back-end solution with a simple and easy-to-use front end that requires no knowledge of how the blockchain.
So we first engage with potential customers, understand their business, identify the problems, and then easily explain how the blockchain can solve these business problems before collaborating together on the specific needs of the solution.
What are the advantages for the consumer of using blockchain-based traceability? Shunsuke Murasaki
At present, it is virtually impossible for coffee consumers to know the specific details of the coffee they have purchased. Consumers do not have access to precise information such as the number of days a bag of coffee beans has been stored or know the exact origin of the coffee they drink, among other relevant information.
But with the EMURGO traceability solution, it is very easy to track this information and it cannot be manipulated. Customers will have more transparent information on the specific route of their coffee beans purchased. Customers also benefit by contributing to more ethical sourcing practices for coffee sustainability by opting for coffee that has used this solution.
Especially for coffee drinkers who opt for premium brands or specialty coffees, this solution gives them a solution to verify the authenticity of their favorite coffee.
Besides coffee, what other industries would benefit from blockchain traceability? Shunsuke Murasaki
As a tailor-made business solution, the EMURGO traceability solution can be customized to meet the needs of customers in various industries who offer specialized or high-quality products. Since consumers in these industries value confidence in the products they buy, it is particularly important that companies in these industries provide this confidence through the verified authenticity of their product offerings.
