Food (Foodtech)

By 2050, the global population is expected to reach 10 billionan increase of 25% compared to today. This increase will place great demands on our ability to secure basic necessities such as food. The world's food production has a huge impact on our planet and, according to the UN, accounts for almost 35% of global greenhouse gas emissions, while almost a third of all food produced is wasted. What the food value chain looks like and how it can be improved to reduce its climate impact is becoming an increasingly important issue.

To ensure food security, we need to improve circular, climate-smart food production that does not require long, high-emission transportation to get food to where it is needed. At the same time, consumers need to be able to make informed choices to support sustainable food production. Digital technology enables new and innovative solutions to meet the challenges and reduce the environmental impact of the food sector nationally and globally.

Example 3: Blockchain technology makes food industry traceable and resource efficient

Challenge: The production and delivery methods used for food products, such as fish, cause environmental impacts and emissions through long transportation, pollution, overfishing and unsustainable water use, among others. Today, salmon and cod can be caught in the Arctic Ocean or farmed in bags in Norwegian waters, gutted in China and shipped back as fillets to the Nordic countries for consumption. This generates significant emissions. Moreover, when actors in the different parts of the production and supply chain of a food product often make different calculations of the product's climate and environmental impact, it becomes difficult for both the sector and consumers to gain full knowledge of a product's emissions. Without a holistic view, emission reduction measures within the value chain are more difficult to implement effectively and consumers and buyers are less able to make informed choices.

Solution: Digitalization and technological solutions provide new opportunities to identify the origin of goods and trace food products throughout the value chain from production, to transport and consumption. The City of Helsingborg, with the help of Atea, was the first municipality in Sweden to create a blockchain technology for its fish purchases, with the aim of tracking the products purchased and choosing alternatives that lead to less climate emissions. With blockchain technology, previously manual information about the fish production and supply chain has been digitized. Each step of the chain, such as the rearing of the fish, is given a 'block' in which data on, for example, the rearing method and the emissions generated are entered. All data is then available to all actors in the chain. Thus, all aspects of a food product's value chain are recorded in the blockchain, such as fishing method, catch zone, by-catch, slaughter method and transportation. Using the data in the blockchain, for a given production and supply chain, consistent and comparable calculations of emissions can be made for each step. In this way, a product's actual emissions from start to finish can be determined. Atea has built the platforms used, installed digitally connected measuring points along the food supply chains, developed an app for QR scanning at end consumers, and is carrying out the necessary development projects and managing the solution. Around 80 percent of the fish purchased by the City of Helsingborg in 2020 was transported 4,400 miles back and forth from the Nordic region to China for filleting. The transportation for this is mainly by sea and the emissions are extensive. With the help of technology, citizens who consume the food can use a QR code to see the origin of the fish and understand the climate impact of a particular food, while buyers can choose products that, for example, have not had the same climate-negative transport chain. By applying blockchain technology, the City of Helsingborg has reduced its climate impact from the transportation of the purchased fish by 90 percent by choosing a supplier with a value chain that generates significantly less emissions.

Technology: Blockchain technology

Partners: Atea and the City of Helsingborg