Blockchain startup Ripe Technology builds consumer trust in food by offering transparency regarding the food's origin and it's journey. On Feb. 5 2020, Neogen Corporation (NASDAQ: NEOG) announced a partnership with Ripe Technology to use blockchain technology for Neogen's animal genomics and food safety diagnostics data.

Blockchain's technology as tremendous potential to create an unalterable record history of food and livestock with chains and blocks of data. Consumers could know the entire production cycle of food they are consuming. Ripe will use Microsoft Azure cloud service and R3's Corda Enterprise's scalable, secure platform to digitize food supply chains.

Neogen’s CEO, John Adent, explains how blockchain technology can improve food chain quality with improved assessment capabilities throughout the food chain from producers to retailers. For example, the quality of a cow's milk can be linked to the cow's medical history, genomic profile and other factors so producers could learn how to optimize milk production.

Ripe serves food producers, distributors, retailers and restaurants. Everyone in the food supply chain has the potential to use blockchain technology to their advantage. Premium grocery stores can justify higher prices as they can show more information about the food they sell. Food processors can show the value of their foods by offering transparency about the ingredients they use. Restaurants know diners will pay more for healthy, local food which is good for them.

Ripe uses distributed ledger technology to track food, and now they have partnered with digital app FlavorWiki to judge taste. Ripe Technology's clients can see how fresh and favorable produce is at every step of the food chain. Clients can learn the points where food isn't meeting consumer's demands and can adjust transportation or cold storage as necessary.

We can expect the blockchain of food to grow as a wide range of companies in the food chain want to prove their value in the chain.