**4. Why blockchains are important for agri-food supply chain**

Currently, food supply chain actors still struggle to find a reliable and effective way to verify the origin and details of products and services. More than 70,000 consumers recently signed a petition urging major companies and brands, including Walmart, to enhance their supply chain transparency [20]. Blockchain has the potential to improve such transparency by providing a complete audit trail of transaction data collected at various stages of the supply chain. By doing so, this technology offers customers and other stakeholders with undisputed proof of the origin and authenticity of products to fight food fraud and improve food safety.

Blockchain has the possibility to make complex and costly dispute settlement a thing of the past. It is not uncommon for suppliers fail to deliver agricultural products on time or in the correct quantity and quality. Under these circumstances, relevant parties need to identify the source of the problem and resolve the dispute, usually through fines or compensation. However, supply chain disputes are often tedious and costly to handle and manage. Blockchain's ability to record ownership transfers

#### *Perspective Chapter: Blockchain Adoption in Food Supply Chain DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.106402*

and legal and security requirements in real time can help to reduce the likelihood of disputes. Smart contracts enabled by blockchain technology can automatically trigger compensation or fines at low cost if predetermined terms are violated.

There are many requirements to monitor and comply with in the agri-food industry, including product safety and integrity, ethical sourcing, technical regulations, and social and environmental responsibility of suppliers [21]. Failing to comply with these requirements can lead to potential regulatory scrutiny and have a negative impact on firm's reputation. Blockchain can address agri-food supply chain compliance issues. By providing real-time visibility and data auditability into the supply chain, blockchain ensures that all contractual terms are met and compels supply chain participants to work with each other within regulatory requirements. In case of the violation of the required environmental conditions detected by sensors in a container, smart contracts can help avoid agricultural product degradation by sending real-time warnings for inspection. Data immutability enabled by blockchain provides a reliable means for supply chain actors to protect the interests of final customers.

There are many interesting use cases of blockchain in the following area: agrifood distribution, food origin and sourcing, and food safety and quality [22]. For instance, Walmart, the world's largest retailer, uses IBM blockchain service to quickly pinpoint the culprit in future food safety scares. In 2016, it partnered with BLU-82 to form IBM Food Trust. The main objective is to increase the supply chain transparency in responding to the increasing customer demand in terms of food provenance and safety. Walmart has cooperated with IBM to develop a blockchain-based food traceability system and completed two tests: trace pork sold in China and mangoes in the Americas [18]. For pork sold in its Chinese stores, this food traceability system allowed uploading certificates of authenticity to the blockchain, bringing more trust to a system where that used to be a serious issue. For mangoes in the US, the time needed to trace their provenance went from 7 days to 2.2 seconds [23]. In September 2018, Walmart required all its lettuce and spinach suppliers to log their shipments on the blockchain. Today, Walmart can now track the origins of 25 products (e.g. strawberries, yogurt, and chicken) using the aforementioned system.

Another example of blockchain-enabled transparency in food origin and sourcing is the export of beef from Australia to China. China's growing demand for beef and the difficulty of meeting domestic demand have led to the import of beef mainly from Australia. BeefLedger, an Australian blockchain company, has developed a tokendriven platform for food sourcing and monitoring, where beef supply chain members take part in the network by purchasing beef tokens. Importers, wholesalers, and retailers can use these tokens as payment for beef shipments. BeefLedger stores all information associated with cattle (cow feeding and health history), meat processing, transportation, and storage conditions. Chinese consumers can thus easily access to the information about the origins of the beef, how was it sourced, and how authentic the claims on the label are.

Blockchain is also used in combination with other digital technologies, such as internet of things, to address fraudulent practices that lead to food safety and quality issues. Downstream Beer is a pioneer in the beer industry to jointly use blockchain technology and internet of things to provide full transparency of beer ingredients and brewing techniques. By using sensors, every aspect of the beer-making process (e.g. location, temperature, and humidity monitoring) is recorded safely on the blockchain. Consumers can use their smartphones to scan the QR codes marked on the bottles where they can access information related to the ingredients, processing methods, bottling process, storage, temperature conditions, etc.

Blockchain along with big data analytics, automation, internet of things, and artificial intelligence are rapidly becoming pillars of supply chain digitalization. The adoption of blockchain helps to foster a paperless agri-food supply chain [24]. It will help break down bureaucracy, radically reduce transaction times and administrative costs, and speed up the flow of goods by eliminating tedious paperwork and using automated data storage process.
