Two Norwegian Companies To Use Cryptocurrencies In Their Salmon Supply Chains

News | November 22, 2019 By:

November 20th, Oslo – two Norwegian salmon producing companies, Cermaq and Labeyrie, announced that they’re going to use IBM’s blockchain in their supply chains to promote greater transparency and tracking mechanisms.

The news came from the Cermaq’s press release on November 20th that the company was cooperating with Labeyrie, both being salmon producers, to incorporate cryptocurrencies for various purposes.

A revolutionary method of payment

With the online resources being so rampant in today’s world, the entrepreneurs and businesses are constantly making an effort to digitalize their services and make them more available to their consumers. One revolution in this area happened with the proliferation of online banking and e-wallets.

And now, the cryptocurrencies are changing the industries mankind has never seen before. This blockchain-based technology, which was meant to be a peer-to-peer asset of exchange with democratized governance, fast and secure payments, and total anonymity, was destined to change the financial world.

Although cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin didn’t attract enough attention at the beginning, they’re now one of the most used and appreciated currencies in many establishments. For example, eSports providers are already incorporating cryptocurrencies as their main methods of payment, escape rooms also accept cryptos, even the big companies are thinking about issuing their own blockchain.

IBM’s blockchain into Cermaq and Labeyrie’s salmons

And that’s where the food industry and those two Norwegian companies come in. Cermaq is a salmon farming company in Oslo which, in its press release on November 20, announced that in cooperation with Labeyrie – a salmon producer also operating in Norway, it’s going to use IBM’s Food Trust platform to incorporate blockchain-powered payments for their salmon sales.

What this means is that every fish in those companies will come with specific CVs and QR-codes in order for consumers to check such crucial details about salmon as its origin, when and where it was hatched, as well as its dimensions when it was transferred to seawater, and much more.

According to Cermaq’s sales director, Brede Løfsgaard, the incorporation of blockchain is purely driven by the customer demand for more transparency and tracking opportunities. 

In addition, Labeyrie released its own tracing system for two salmon products in Norway. This is supposed to provide customers with information about the production chain of the fish – from the moment of its hatching all the way to the store.

Blockchain-powered food industry

In general, blockchain and cryptocurrencies are already breaking in the food industry. Two European giant producers Carrefour and Nestle began incorporating and deploying the same IBM’s Food Trust blockchain for their milk-based products for infants. With it, customers will be able to better track their acquired products and get pretty detailed information about where it is and when it’s going to arrive.

Besides, the blockchain will also include information about the production chain – when the product was made, what’s inside of it, when was it delivered to the store, etc.

But Europe is not the only blockchain user in the world. The US also has some advancements in this field. The logistics company UPS has already made a blockchain-powered and verified shipment of the US-based beef from the United States to Japan. The company had partnered with HerdX – an agricultural tech firm, in order to put blockchain technology into its packaging system which could more accurately trace the shipment.