Carrefour Bio Product Transparency with Blockchain
Sector: Tertiary sector · Industry: E-commerce · Organisation: Carrefour · Maturity level: Production
Since April 2022, Carrefour has been using blockchain technology for its organic private label products to provide consumers with complete transparency about origin and production methods. Customers can scan a QR code on the product label to access detailed information about the producer, location, harvest date, quality characteristics, and organic certification. The first implemented product was organic dessert oranges from Spain, with plans to expand to other Carrefour Bio product lines.
Documentation status
- Project status: Production
- Evidence: Evidence medium
- Editorial review: Ufuk Avci, 15 April 2026
Description
In March 2018, Carrefour became the first European retailer to launch blockchain food traceability — initially for chicken from Auvergne, together with IBM (Hyperledger). Customers scan QR codes on packaging and receive complete product biographies. In 2019, additional products were added: tomatoes, eggs (Loué), Rocamadour cheese, Gillot fresh milk, Norwegian salmon, Christmas chicken. From April 2022, expansion to the organic private label (Carrefour Bio) — as the world’s first retailer to use blockchain on its own organic products. First Carrefour Bio product: Spanish dessert oranges (pack of 4).
Carrefour, the French supermarket giant with 12,300 stores in over 30 countries, began in 2018 as a founding member of the IBM Food Trust platform with blockchain food traceability. First use case: chicken from Auvergne (March 2018), initially using Ethereum Solidity smart contracts. The blockchain checks, for example, whether chickens have reached the legal minimum age of 81 days at slaughter. By 2019, seven more products of the Carrefour Quality Line were included. With the expansion to the Carrefour Bio private label (April 2022), Carrefour became the first retailer worldwide to use blockchain on its own organic products. QR code information includes: producer name, field location, packaging site, transport means (origin/route), harvest date, analysis results, variety, seasonality, organic certificate, conversion date and producer initiatives. Carrefour used IBM Food Trust because national brands like Nestlé did not want to establish separate blockchain connections for each retailer.
Perspectives
B2B — organisations perspective
Suppliers of Carrefour Quality Line and Carrefour Bio private labels must input product data into the IBM Food Trust platform. This creates discipline in data quality along the supply chain and forms the basis for publicly visible QR code transparency.
B2C — consumers perspective
Consumers can access complete product biographies via smartphone QR scan — producer, field, packaging, transport, harvest, organic certificate. Benoît Soury, Carrefour Bio Director: "This delivers our goal to become the leader in the food transition for everyone."
Employees perspective
Quality management can immediately identify which product batches are affected and where in the supply chain a problem occurred — without days of manual research through ERP systems, supplier databases and paper documents.
Benefits
General
- Blockchain technology creates complete transparency along the entire supply chain of organic products.
- Consumers can instantly and easily access verified product information.
- Trust in organic products is strengthened through tamper-proof documentation.
B2B — organisations
- Retailers can differentiate themselves from competitors through demonstrable transparency and strengthen trust with business partners.
B2C — consumers
- Consumers gain full control and transparency over the origin of their organic food.
Employees
- Employees have access to complete product information and can competently answer customer questions.
Challenges
General
- Integrating blockchain technology into existing systems requires technical expertise and resources.
- All supply chain actors must be motivated and enabled to continuously maintain data.
B2B — organisations
- Implementation requires investment in technology and training of employees along the entire supply chain.
Employees
- Employees must familiarise themselves with new digital systems and assist customers in their use.
Technology foundation
The blockchain solution creates an immutable digital record of all information along the supply chain of organic products. This technology is particularly well suited for food transparency as it enables tamper-proof documentation of origin, transport, and quality data.
Implementation examples
Carrefour Organic Oranges Blockchain Tracking
Carrefour wanted to respond to the growing customer demand for transparency in organic products and position itself as a trusted provider. The company sought a solution that would give consumers immediate access to verified product information.
Carrefour implemented blockchain tracking for organic dessert oranges from Spain with QR code-based access to supply chain data.
In April 2022, Carrefour introduced a blockchain-based transparency solution for organic dessert oranges from Spain. Customers can scan a QR code on the packaging to access detailed information about the producer, location, harvest date, mode of transport, and organic certification. The system records the entire supply chain in a tamper-proof manner and plans to expand to other organic products in the Carrefour Bio line.
The solution addressed the problem of lack of transparency in the organic food supply chain and consumer trust in the authenticity of organic products. At the same time, it solved the need for simple and accessible information provision for end customers.
Tags
Supply chain transparency, Organic products, QR code, Food safety, Consumer trust