Auchan Retail has announced that it is rolling out blockchain traceability in selected product categories, following a successful trial of the system in the Vietnam market.

The retailer is working with Te-Food, a German start-up, on the project, which will cover categories such as chicken, pork, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes and exotic fruits in a number of countries.

Auchan deployed the blockchain solution in Vietnam in 2017, in conjunction with local government, and the initiative has already seen traceability measures applied to 18,000 pigs, 200,000 chickens and 2.5 million eggs, with the scheme set to be rolled out to aubergines, mangoes and durian in the near future.

European Rollout

Following this trial, the blockchain traceability platform has already been rolled out in France to trace Auchan’s organic carrots, and will be applied to potatoes and chicken in December 2018 and February 2019 respectively.

It is also preparing to apply the technology to tomato sourcing in Italy, Iberian pork and exotic fruits in Spain and chicken in Portugal and Senegal.

The retailer said in France, all organic carrots sourced from producer Larrère & Fils are packed in crates that are RFID enabled in order to track the route travelled. A dynamic QR code is then printed on packaging, to enable all supply chain actors, and indeed the consumer, to trace the route the product has taken.

Auchan operates stores in 17 countries around the world, and posted a turnover of €52 billion in 2017.

Source: The European Supermarket Magazine