Tracing coffee beans transparently

Sector: Tertiary sector · Industry: Hospitality and catering · Organisation: Toks Restaurantes, SIMBA Chain, University of Notre Dame · Maturity level: Pilot

Toks Restaurantes trialled a blockchain application for the complete traceability of coffee together with SIMBA Chain and the University of Notre Dame. The pilot carried out captured harvest and delivery data from 20 selected coffee farmers and made this available to guests in restaurants via QR codes. Robust figures on sustained income increases or scaling beyond the test phase are not yet available.

Documentation status

Description

Toks Restaurantes trialled, together with partners, the use of a decentralised blockchain solution to transparently map the coffee supply chain from plantation to restaurant. Guests in the restaurants could view digital proof of the origin of the coffee beans and the producers directly via QR codes. The project illustrates how digital proof of origin can strengthen customer trust in catering products, although the project has so far remained limited to the field test.

The Mexican restaurant chain Toks Restaurantes initiated the project together with the technology provider SIMBA Chain and the University of Notre Dame to anchor social responsibility and proof of origin technologically. In a limited field test, data from 20 local coffee farmers was captured and stored in immutable datasets. Customers in selected restaurant branches could access detailed information about harvest conditions and the smallholder farmers involved via QR codes on menus or packaging. Technologically, the system was based on a decentralised application that bundled transaction data along the supply chain and made it available in a tamper-proof manner. Although the prototype demonstrated the technical feasibility of such coffee traceability, there is no evidence of a permanent company-wide rollout or guaranteed income increases for the producers.

Perspectives

B2B — organisations perspective

For restaurant chains and retailers, capturing supply chain data provides a basis for transparent cooperation with producer communities. The pilot project demonstrated, at a technical level, how B2B supply relationships between catering and smallholder farmers can be documented traceably.

B2C — consumers perspective

Restaurant visitors gained direct insight into the origin of the coffee and information about the smallholder farmers producing it via QR codes. This enabled increased awareness of fair procurement practices, although it remained limited to the pilot's test locations.

Employees perspective

Catering and service staff were enabled to convey transparent information about the coffee products served to guests. The data capture also required the participating producers to carry out basic input steps to log their batches.

Benefits

General

B2B — organisations

B2C — consumers

Employees

Challenges

General

B2B — organisations

B2C — consumers

Employees

Technology foundation

Use of a decentralised application (DApp) based on SIMBA Chain to log supply chain events in a tamper-proof manner and make them retrievable via web interfaces using QR codes.

Implementation examples

Traceability of coffee beans at Toks Restaurantes

The aim was to present the origin of the coffee transparently and to make social responsibility towards smallholder farmers visible to customers. This was intended to strengthen trust in the quality and procurement practices of the restaurant chain.

Toks Restaurantes trialled blockchain-based traceability of coffee beans with SIMBA Chain and the University of Notre Dame. The pilot tested the provision of origin data via QR codes for guests at branches.

As part of a pilot project, the restaurant chain Toks Restaurantes cooperated with SIMBA Chain and the University of Notre Dame to comprehensively document the origin of its coffee. A total of 20 selected coffee farmers took part in the trial, whose delivery data was captured in a decentralised manner and made accessible to restaurant visitors via QR codes. The technical feasibility of the data capture was successfully demonstrated; however, no documented steps followed towards a sustained production deployment or a broad rollout.

The goal was to reduce information asymmetries between producers and end consumers and to reliably integrate data directly from smallholder farmers. The decentralised documentation was intended to rule out manipulation of origin information.

Tags

Coffee, Supply chain, Traceability, Catering, Proof of origin, QR code

Sources

  1. Toks Case Study
  2. Blockchain Research Group Industry Projects
  3. Blockchain y café: la apuesta de Toks
  4. Café Toks, pionero en prácticas de trazabilidad

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