In response to rising fraud, a Tunisian olive oil company has decided to use blockchain technology to provide their customers with an unprecedented level of transparency. CHO is one of the leading olive oil providers in Tunisia. With help from IBM, customers can now pick up a bottle of their olive oil, scan the tag, and immediately deduce whether or not it’s genuine.
Even better, you’ll see where the olives were harvested, crushed, and filtered. Because of blockchain’s inherently transparent and secure nature, this tracking system is extremely reliable. Just like that, CHO seems to have eliminated all possibility of cheap knock-off brands selling unlicensed copies of their olive oil.
According to Olive Oil Times, this tracking system is anything but simple to implement. The product needs to be methodologically scanned through eight different checkpoints from harvest to shelf. Although CHO decision-makers were warned about the complexity of this process, they seem satisfied with the way that IBM was able to assist them.
Wajih Rekik, CEO of CHO America, admitted:
“Some providers [of blockchain] made it sound like it is not going to happen in this decade; it is so complicated that an olive oil producer cannot implement it. IBM managed really to make it easy.”
This is one of the most common hurdles that seems to accompany new technology. The theory behind the idea might be revolutionary, but how do we implement it? While many might be willing to dismiss the benefits of blockchain as “too complicated,” others seem willing to jump in headfirst. In the case of CHO, this decision could provide them with a valuable advantage over other olive oil producers.
Right now, CHO is the only olive oil brand you can truly rely on. While other brands might have a solid reputation, there’s no real way to compete with the cold, hard data that CHO is providing. What happens when this becomes a trend in the industry? Soon enough, using blockchain in the manufacturing process may be seen as mandatory. If your product isn’t verifiable, then you might as well be selling canola oil as far as the customer is concerned.
At the end of the day, this is a great example of how blockchain can be successfully implemented. There are those who say blockchain has the power to change our entire society. Although olive oil might not be the most exciting thing in the world, think about the implications across other industries.
What about designer fashion, an industry which is inundated with fake replicas of Gucci sweaters and Louis Vuitton handbags? A simple scan could tell you whether or not you’re blowing thousands of dollars on a cheap knockoff item.
This is just one example of how blockchain can help. As more industries catch on, we’ll undoubtedly see a stronger shift in this direction, as well as a move to use blockchain in completely new ways. Those who don’t have the foresight to implement this technology will be left in the dust. Because if you’re not using blockchain, then what are you trying to hide?