January 24, 2019
2019 is an exciting year for the future of food and product traceability.
As announced in our previous blog post, Austral Fisheries recently joined BCG Digital Ventures and WWF-Australia as the industry partner in the launch of OpenSC, a revolutionary new digital platform harnessing the power of blockchain technology to securely track the supply chain of food and products around the world.
OpenSC will help to inform consumer purchasing decisions by providing accurate, transparent information about the origin and procurement methods of a range of commodities.
To interact with an OpenSC-traced product, consumers simply need to use their mobile phone to scan a QR Code on the product or menu, revealing details of the history and supply chain of the product.
Austral’s premium Glacier 51 Toothfish, was selected to feature at the recent launch of OpenSC which took place at celebrity Chef Matt Moran’s award-winning Sydney restaurant, Aria.
Following the successful launch, OpenSC-tracked produce will be served to business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos on 24 January by WWF Director General Marco Lambertini and BCGDV CEO Stefan Gross-Selbeck.
Business leaders will be some of the first to experience a meal with full transparency regarding its origin and the subsequent journey the food took to arrive on their plate.
OpenSC is a project built on the back of BCGDV’s blockchain and technological expertise, WWF’s 50+ years of environmental work and the involvement of industry partners with an interest in providing their customers with world-leading food and product transparency.
For Austral specifically, our involvement over the past year is perhaps best summed up by Martin Exel, Austral’s General Manager of Environment and Policy:
“It started with officers and crew on the Corinthian Bay catching the fish; then moved to processing on board with factory managers tagging and scanning individual fish and keeping them separate in the hold; skippers keeping it all happening safely and at the highest quality possible; the shore based operational team separating and moving off the fish into unique cartons for air transport to Australia; then the Perth-based freight forwarding, catch documentation, import and export team getting the products here and processed at Catalano's so it can be sent around the globe for the launch. And let's not forget the finance group, who make it all happen by paying the bills, and keeping track of how much it's all costing to ensure we keep our feet grounded. Then there's our CEO Dave, who has driven the process, and is now the front man with presentations and launches of the system starting with the event in Sydney last week, and now moving to the World Economic Forum, in Davos.”
Austral are excited to announce that the entire 2019 production of Glacier 51 Toothfish fillets will be traceable through the OpenSC platform, taking us another step forward in our sustainable seafood journey.
For media coverage, please see the links below:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-18/blockchain-tracking-could-revolutionise-australian-food-industry/10724470
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-6600855/Want-buy-ethical-food-Scan-phone-fast-facts.html
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/17/tracking-technology-to-reveal-whether-food-produced-legally-and-sustainably
https://www.zdnet.com/article/wwf-using-blockchain-to-track-environmental-impact-of-products/
*Additional information about Austral Fisheries and its Patagonian Toothfish Operations can be found here.
**MSC = Marine Stewardship Council, the world’s leading fishery certification program.
Photo Credit:
1. Matt Moran/Aria Restaurant (@chefmattmoran @ariarestaurant)
2. Matt Moran/Aria Restaurant
3. Via ABC News: WWF and BCG Digital Ventures are helping consumers learn where food comes from. (WWF)
Media enquiries
David Carter | Austral Fisheries CEO | 0412 198 595