World Milk Day: Blockchain is thriving in the dairy sector
In 2001, the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) designated June 1 as “World Milk Day”. This year’s event is an opportunity for us to revisit the importance of traceability and transparency in the dairy industry, which has been a pioneer in the adoption of blockchain technologies.
Consumer confidence in the dairy industry has been lagging
The dairy industry has been affected by multiple scandals in recent decades. The most notable, such as contaminated milk in China or milk containing salmonella in France, have undermined consumers’ trust in the sector. On top of this, many ethical issues are being raised (producer compensation, animal welfare, etc.), calling into question the existing model of today’s milk production. More recently, the cancellation by the Council of State of the decree making it mandatory to indicate the origin of the milk on products sold in France, has caused controversy
(find out more in our decryption in french).
Yet the industry has shown strong resilience and an incredible ability to reinvent itself. In France, initiatives such as “
C’est Qui Le Patron?”, “
Les Laitiers Responsables”, or “
Juste” guarantee better compensation for producers who agree to meet strict produt specifications. The rapid increase of organic products in stores also shows the ability of industry players to shift and meet new consumer demands surrounding animal welfare and quality.
The challenge for the future will be proving these commitments and communicating them effectively to the consumer, while drowning out the noise of the various quality labels – of which there seems a new one every day. Blockchain has emerged as the most popular technology to address these issues and has established itself as the primary solution for dairy players looking to improve their traceability and transparency.
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