Nestlé Admits to Difficulties in Adopting Blockchain

With there being a recent boom and interest in blockchain? technology for mainstream corporations and institutions, there has been a lot of questions about their level of adoption. Many of these institutions are still very much in the experimental stage, but there are those looking to take it one step further. 

One such institution is Nestle, the world’s biggest food producers. They were a founding member of IBM’s food trust blockchain? initiative for the tracking and tracing of food in the supply chain. However, they have looked to advance to public blockchain?. 

However, this venture into the new technology has not been a simple one as the company has admitted in a recent interview. Nestle has said that, even as a massive multi-national corporation that they have had to adopt a start-up mindset in order to adjust and implement the technology, even at a large scale. 

Insights into the retailer’s blockchain? development work were revealed by Nestlé Digital Technology Manager Armin Nehzat in an interview with TechWire Asia.

Award winning

That being said, Nestle have been doing a good job in the advancement of blockchain? on an enterprise scale. Last month, Nestlé Australia’s Chain of Origin” initiative to implement blockchain? technology for supply chain management was nominated for a digital transformation award by United States-based market intelligence firm, the International Data Corporation (IDC). 

Yet, Nehzat admits that the project has been far more challenging than many other digital innovation plans.

“It has been testing how quickly we can move as an organization to completely review how we do business. From sourcing products at the micro lot level, all the way through to tracking products individually to the end consumers. We are looking to see how this could scale to other product offers. So I guess it’s more of a long term journey than a short term bet,” he said.

Finding customer insights

More so, the difficulty also comes in the broad appeal of blockchain?. Because it can be directed at so many different areas, the use of the technology becomes about finding what customers need. 

“Curiosity in data & insights is more important than funding when it comes to digital transformation,” added Nehzat

According to Nehzat, the biggest challenge to digital transformation will always be working with consumer insights. However, much of Nestlé’s success with technology and innovation is a result of its intense focus on customers.

“People think digital maturity is being able to use buzzwords like''blockchain? ``. The reality is that you always need to think about what value it adds to the consumer,” he added. “We believe that blockchain? is the enabler for organizations like Nestlé to deliver supply chain transparency but the ultimate value is ensuring freshness to consumers.”