View From Europe


By Colin Ley Blockchain, Barnacles & Brexit


BLOCKCHAIN What do you think of blockchain technology and its relevance to the future of global animal feed production, processing and marketing? When I put a similar question to delegates attending a recent


international conference in London, I was surprised by the sharp divide between those who are positively energised by the potential of blockchain and those who have already turned against it. While my question generated plenty of ‘don’t knows’, despite the


high level status of the delegates I was quizzing, it was the gap between the ‘myth’ and ‘magic’ reactions which was intriguing, sufficient to start me thinking about blockchain and animal feed. Stated simply blockchain is a digital platform which is equipped to


store, facilitate and verify transactions between a number of users who have already signed up to an open, transparent and shared network. Whenever a transaction is made, a new record or block is created


and verified by the network, after which the new block is then added to the network chain, or blockchain, to use the approved jargon.


Cutting costs This enables everyone in the network to trade products with all other members in a way that, according to blockchain devotees, is both secure and high speed. Blockchain is also claimed to remove a lot of existing, and often costly, middlemen from such transactions. There’s much more to it than that, of course, but those are nuts and


bolts of the process. More importantly, there are plenty of specialists out there who will apply it to your business if you decide it’s worthwhile, so let’s concentrate on what blockchain does, rather than spending too much time on what it is. Looking at the animal feed industry today, for example, an


increasing focus is being placed on product purity and safety. Consumers want to know where their food comes from, what it contains and that the various ingredients used by farmers and manufacturers have been sourced according to the highest possible ethical and environmental standards. While some very good quality assurance schemes already exist


for compound feed, farm produce, manufactured goods and so on, the potential for blockchain to also help build consumer confidence in the future needs to be considered. I’m not saying you should be using it already, but you surely need to know why you’re not.


Agri-food blockchain to hit $429.7m in 2023 According to a recent report, published by the online research store ‘Research And Markets’, blockchain technology is already


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‘revolutionising’ the food and agriculture sectors by ‘enhancing the decision-making capabilities of many organisations’. ‘The blockchain market is expected to grow, owing to the increase


in the demand for supply chain transparency along the agriculture and food verticals,’ stated the report’s authors, adding that a 2016 Label Insight Food Revolution Study found that 94% of those questioned said that buying from manufacturers who are transparent was important to them. They also said that food fraud cases around the world have


resulted in an increased awareness of such issues among consumers and that this is ‘further expected to drive the growth of blockchain in agriculture and the food supply chain market’. Converting their forecasts into finance, the report’s authors said


that blockchain’s value within the agriculture and the food supply chain is capable of growing at a rate of 50% a year over the next five years. That would advance the technology’s value for the sector from its current level of $60.8 million to a staggering $429.7 million in 2023. Running a basic search for evidence of blockchain activity in the


feed sector didn’t reveal much, although it is still early days for the technology. What did emerge, however, was a neat illustration of how the industry could find itself using the technology in the future.


Supply chain integrity The example in question features the coming together of four companies and organisations who are implementing blockchain connectivity for the supply chain management of fish feed and pet feed products. The four blockchain partners are Entobel, who supply sustainable


feed ingredients made from insects; TMA Solutions, an international IT company; the Vietnam Food Integrity Center (FIC); and blockchain developer, OriginTrail. Coming together as a collaborative hub called The Trace Alliance, they’re focused on using blockchain to improve supply chain integrity. ‘Blockchain technologies enable companies of all sizes to enhance


their supply chain transparency and increase trust,’ said John G. Keogh, chairman of The Trace Alliance and director of the FIC, who was speaking in June this year when the collaboration hub was unveiled. ‘The Trace Alliance is bringing together organisations that


collaborate on supply chain issues, using the OriginTrail protocol to connect enterprises with their service providers and trading partners. ‘Seeing this first blockchain proof of concept within Vietnam Food


Integrity Center is also an example of the willingness of companies to collaborate and innovate towards a common goal on increased food chain integrity. I look forward to seeing more Trace Alliance members engaging in collaborative projects.’ So there you have it. Blockchain is the new route to better food


chain integrity, a vision which definitely sits well with the key needs of today’s food and feed industries. However, as for whether or not blockchain can deliver as


successfully as its supporters claim, you’ll really never know unless you take a look for yourself.


BARNACLES Now, as they say, for something completely different. Namely, barnacles. Unlikely as it may sound, this item is all about the development of an


Comment section is sponsored by Compound Feed Engineering Ltd www.cfegroup.com


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