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Livestock – Supply Chain and Provenance

Jan 07 2024

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Whether it is concerns for origin of food, or verification of claims such as ‘organic’ or ‘free from’, or compliance with modern slavery legislation, supply chain and provenance technologies can can enable greater trust and consumer confidence, add value to products, and improve information flows.

Revolutionary technologies offering tamper-proof, secure end-to-end tracking, have the capacity to eliminate the need for manually updated, paper-based systems, and offer farmers and consumers the transparency, accountability and traceability they desire.

Reliable and secure information sharing is key to achieving successful supply chain transparency. Supply chain technologies such as distributed ledgers (blockchain) and inventory management software have multiple end-uses, including:

• Accurately capturing data about the provenance, attributes, condition, and location of crops on-farm and throughout the supply chain.
• Reducing the risks and constraints of paper-based systems.
• Improving efficiency getting products to market and building trust into the supply chain.
• Facilitating faster payments.
• Providing food safety assurances that consumers and regulators require.
• Increasing accountability for damaged and tampered goods.
• Exposing counterfeit goods.
• Improving biosecurity responses
• Health and safety benefits for the consumer

In practice, digital solutions have the capacity to revolutionise the way goods and data are managed and monitored along the supply chain. For example:

• Sensors can be used to track temperature sensitive products along the supply chain, and any changes above acceptable temperature requirements can be made accountable, protecting the farmer from potential losses.  
• Using QR-codes or near-field communication sensors and blockchain technology consumers can scan and learn about the ‘paddock to plate’ process, confirm whether claims such as brand name, ‘Product of Australia’, ‘Organic’ and ‘Free From’ are valid, and make more informed choices. This is also valuable for growers when combating food fraud in exported products such as premium quality wines.