Connociam supports the development of Connecting Food, the first European Startup that develops a solution for the effective monitoring of food quality based on Blockchain
Connociam has landed a strategic collaboration agreement with Connecting Food for the development of the project in Spain and Portugal. Connecting Food is the first European Startup that has developed a digital audit platform for the specific and differentiating characteristics of food products. The audit is conducted in real time and continuously on 100% of products throughout the entire food production chain, from the origin to the point of sale, the results of which are infallible.
Connociam and its partners have been committed to supporting and effectively developing innovation in Europe through the business, innovation and transformation consulting projects they have been carrying out since 2009 for numerous clients. Furthermore, Connociam and its partners also selectively support and invest in startups with business models or innovative technologies with potential to disrupt the market.
Connecting Food shows a great deal of potential in helping to transform the food sector in Europe and Connociam is supporting and committed to the project.
Connecting Food is an initiative platform focused on addressing one of the most critical challenges of the food industry. It was born thanks to the vision of its two founding partners, Stefano Volpi and Maxine Roper, both consolidated executives with extensive expertise in the European agri-food sector.
The Connecting Food solution (see video) provides a continuous, real-time digital audit that ensures compliance with the quality parameters identified as key throughout the entire food chain and that enable the production of a specific food product. This solution allows companies to respond to one of the most relevant challenges facing the food industry today: ensuring effective compliance with the quality promised by its brands and producers.
An example of a typical application of the Connecting Food project enables a company that offers “breakfasts with eggs from free-range hens” to guarantee and effectively monitor whether 100% of their eggs come from chickens that meet the requirements established by the company. Or to ensure that a cooked ham contains 50% fewer vaccines than the market average. Another example is to check whether a certain milk brand sources its product from nearby farms that feed their livestock with quality food. By allowing this degree of monitoring and reliability, Connecting Food becomes a key tool for brand managers of manufacturing or distribution companies willing to guarantee their quality to their customers and final consumers in a very reliable and effective way.
The solution developed by Connecting Food is based mainly on the application of Blockchain and “Smart Contracts” throughout the entire food chain.
The system collects the relevant data and automatically guarantees its authenticity, allowing exploitation in real time and safely. This digital solution is displayed on a dashboard at the user level that allows easy and effective monitoring of quality parameters, detecting possible errors or breaches early on. This solution allows producers or stakeholders in the food chain to act early on, if necessary, to correct quality problems. This swift response enables producers and stakeholders to increase food quality, reduce the costs of alimentary alerts, waste, as well as lower the risk of a new alimentary quality crises.
Some big players in the production and distribution of food, such as Wall Mart, Unilever or Nestlé, are currently developing their own solutions based on blockchain to track and control certain food production and distribution parameters. This technology was adapted from the fintech sector where it saw its first applications with bitcoin and Smart-contracts for financial operations.
The Connecting Food project has very relevant partners for its development such as IBM, Cea Tech (the French nuclear software development centre) and Sigfox. The project has already had two rounds of financing and is now preparing its third round for its European market rollout. Currently, Connecting Food operates in France, the United Kingdom, Germany and now, Spain and Portugal. There are also several user-cases underway and its effective launch of the solution on the market is scheduled for September 2018.
This support for the Connecting Food project is another example of the commitment to innovation and innovative projects that the Connociam team has been developing successfully over recent years.