Carrefour is now using blockchain technology

Following the launch of Europe’s first food blockchain in March, Carrefour is now rolling out the technology to include Auvergne farmyard fattened chicken and Carrefour Quality Line oranges.

Complete transparency for two festive products thanks to help from the producers    
Carrefour is to start using blockchain technology with one of its flagship festive products: Carrefour Quality Line Auvergne fattened chicken. As with the CQL Auvergne farmhouse chicken, the first product to use blockchain technology, the information to which consumers have access retraces the product’s whole life – from birth right through to when it ends up on the store shelves, including details of where it was reared and information about the livestock farmer.

CQL oranges will also get to use this new technology by the beginning of January. That means that consumers will have access to information about growing and harvesting methods, as well as where the oranges were produced, etc. The product is also guaranteed to have been grown without using synthetic pesticides right from when they start flowering, and not to have been chemically treated in any way after harvesting – two of the commitments included in the CQL terms of reference.

This technology highlights the producers’ expertise and meets consumers’ key requirements of being able to trace their products and enjoy complete transparency across the whole product line. Customers can even scan a QR code to view a video all about the livestock farmer and their farm.

A technology benefiting the food transition
Blockchain technology can help improve the quality of the information about the products that use it. Consumers can scan a QR code on the packaging with their phones and then access extensive information about the route that the product has taken – from where it was farmed or grown, right up to when it was placed on the store shelves, as well as other specific features, such as rearing (feed) or production methods, labels, etc.

Using blockchain technology for Carrefour Quality Line products is one of the Group’s commitments, reiterated in the Act For Food programme launched in September. In December 2018, blockchain technology will be applied to five CQL products: Auvergne Farmhouse chicken, tomatoes, eggs, Auvergne farmyard fattened chicken and oranges.