Fighting counterfeiting in Olive Oil with blockchain - a working product has arrived

Project Information

STOPTHEFRAUDINOLIVEO

Grant agreement ID: 866703

DOI

10.3030/866703

Project closed

EC signature date 30 April 2019

Start date 1 May 2019

End date 31 October 2019

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

HASHED BLOCKTAC SL
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - STOPTHEFRAUDINOLIVEO (Fighting counterfeiting in Olive Oil with blockchain - a working product has arrived)

Reporting period: 2019-05-01 to 2019-10-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

European manufacturers/bottlers (2.5 million ones) face the problem of counterfeiting (the most serious food one in Europe according to the European Parliament). The consumer cannot distinguish the original label from a faked one. They are losing a market share that they estimate not lower than €1.5Bn/year. Traditional inspections are not working well. Europe manufactures €3Bn in Olive Oil, mostly by Spain, Italy, Greece and other countries in lesser number. Also, the world best-known, quality brands, are European. BlockTac has developed a technical solution for this problem based on Blockchain. This study is about whether this technology will be accepted and working as expected.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The Study is based on a Survey (957 professionals) and additional meetings with manufacturers during June, July and August 2019. Respondents report that the difficulties they face are mainly market-related: excess supply and competition, low prices, pressure from the distribution channel, poor loyalty, ignorance of the nature of the product and confusion about varieties. But also of an internal nature: lack of technical and economic resources, bureaucracy, lack of transparency.
The atomization of production, and the effort of the industry in production and quality result in a large offer of olive oil and a high-quality product. However, the poor preparation of producers in promotion and marketing results in the product ending up being sold below its cost. Blockchain Single-use digital seals are an effective way to fight counterfeiting and fraud. It also generates extraordinary additional functionalities in marketing. Although no major issues have been detected, some points have been addressed: a faster and easier deployment; lower costs; and use of NFC.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Additional features developed as requested by potential customers; a) Connection between the Manufacturers and Final users; b) Add disloyalty protection for the manufacturer; c) Facilitate the recall of products (e.g. food alerts).
Conclusions and scaling-up
• This is a case of a massive use of Blockchain apart from cryptocurrencies.
• The Digital Seals may apply to other industries with similar pain points.
• We plan to apply for a Horizon 2020 phase 2.

logoandsample.jpeg