“We want to know exactly where fresh products come from. Only then will we know for sure that it has been produced with respect for people, animals and the environment. We are happy to show this to our customers. After all, it is our ambition is to make all our fresh chains fully transparent by 2025 at the latest. ” – Anita Scholte op Reimer, Director Quality & Sustainability at Albert Heijn –
Together with Dutch food retailer Albert Heijn, LDC and leading European bottler Refresco, ImpactBuying set up a blockchain based solution to gather timely and accurate data from orange farm to bottled orange juice at the retailer.
The Challenge
Albert Heijn has the ambition to be transparent on all fresh products by 2025 and implement a thorough due diligence policy with a focus on supply chain transparency. In their search for support Albert Heijn found long-term technology partner ImpactBuying as their blockchain partner. In September 2018, ImpactBuying has launched the Powerchain to gain more insight into the orange juice chain together with partners Refresco and Louis Dreyfus Company. The aim was to continuously improve the working conditions and sustainable production within the orange juice chain.
The Solution
The starting point is to always have the right data our clients can trust, report and act on. In this program, the supply chain partners need to deliver proof of good working conditions on the plantations (based on Rainforest Alliance certifications), their efforts on preservation of nature and environment, and the constant food safety and the quality performance of the product in its journey through the supply chain. In addition, the available chain information is accessible for the consumer. By buying a bottle of orange juice and scanning the QR code on the package, the consumer is able to see which route it has taken before the orange juice arrives at the shelves at AH. The Powerchain minimizes the distance between the consumers and people at the begin of the supply chain. It is even possible for consumers to show appreciation to the pickers on the farms by sending them a like or comment through the Powerchain app. This project has ensured that the orange juice chain is now more transparent, there is real-time data sharing between partners and it has increased the trust and interaction between chain partners and consumers.
The Partners
We are proud of the collaboration with our partners Refresco, LDC and Albert Heijn to make the Powerchain possible. Together we maximized the transparency of the production chain of oranges in Brazil and considerably reduced the distance between the picker and the consumer.
ImpactBuying believes in collaboration and we enjoyed working with the following partners:
