Kvarøy Arctic uses IBM blockchain to trace Norwegian farmed salmon to North American stores
Kvarøy Arctic's CEO, Alf-Gøran Knutsen
Kvarøy Arctic (pronounced “Kwa-ray”), a major producer of Norwegian farmed salmon, has announced that it will join IBM Food Trust to enhance the traceability of its Arctic salmon and help foster consumer trust across its supply chain.
Kvarøy Arctic is enabling corporate buyers, including select Whole Foods Market stores in the US and Canada, and restaurants, to scan a QR code which will provide a provenance history for the Artic salmon and the feed it was raised on. They will also be able to download images and video of the farms and see for themselves the conditions and animal welfare standards that Kvarøy Arctic upholds. The company also plans to introduce a consumer app to provide insight into the quality and sustainability of the seafood in the future.
In the past three months, Kvarøy Arctic has reported a dramatic increase in demand for fresh seafood in the US, shipping twice the volume anticipated at its February 2020 launch. In the previous year, demand for salmon grew even faster than the demand for beef and poultry as consumers increasingly looked for alternative sources of protein.
To help meet this need, Kvarøy Arctic has joined IBM Food Trust, an ecosystem of food producers, distributors, manufacturers and retailers collaborating using a permissioned, permanent and shared record of food system data stored on blockchain. Kvarøy Arctic is also working with its feed provider BioMar to begin uploading supply chain data to the network, creating an immutable record of the feed used and the conditions where the salmon was raised, packed, certified and shipped to distributors around the world.
Kvarøy Arctic holds itself to high standards, and for example reports using open ocean habitats that contain roughly half the population of conventional salmon farms. This gives the salmon far more space to swim, which, Kvarøy reports, ultimately results in a healthier, better-tasting fish. Kvarøy Arctic’s farms are also located in pristine ocean waters at the Arctic Circle, promote sustainable farming methods and are 100% certified by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, an organisation that identifies responsible fisheries using both environmental and social standards. Kvarøy Arctic’s Atlantic salmon is also certified by the American Heart Association’s Heart-Check Food Certification Program.
“Blockchain is the future when it comes to ending fraud in the seafood industry. It is a level of transparency that shows our dedication to being the best of the best,” said Kvarøy Arctic’s CEO, Alf-Gøran Knutsen. “The technology tracks a level of detail that helps us reduce food waste so we can feed more people in the world.”
“Our work with Kvarøy Arctic further builds on our progress in promoting transparency and sustainability in the seafood trade,” said IBM Food Trust GM, Raj Rao. “IBM Food Trust is delivering the tools needed to collaborate across industries and take the action to preserve and maintain our global fisheries, while protecting the integrity of the seafood supply chains.”
Several prominent members of the seafood industry are now using IBM Food Trust to enhance traceability for products ranging from shrimp and scallops to smoked salmon.
ATEA, a leading provider of IT infrastructure solutions in the Nordic and Baltic region, is also working with Kvarøy Arctic as the systems integrator.
(Statements regarding IBM’s future direction and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice, and represent goals and objectives only.)
