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Co-operative investigating blockchain tie-up with London startup

Consumer group the Co-operative is investigating ways that blockchain technology can be utilised as part of its fairtrade food business with London startup Provenance.

The London-based tech firm, which is due to open its seed round soon, is currently in very early-stage talks with the UK retail group about potential uses of the tech pertaining to traceability and transparency.

If the two firms can come to an agreement, it would be one of the first instances of a major retailer has experimented with the technology and follows Visa’s partnering with BTL Group, another blockchain startup from the capital, to explore potential uses for the tech when tracking cross-border payments.

There are high hopes for blockchain technology, which is most famously a part of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, with uses ranging from finance to government and retail all mooted as sectors which could benefit from the tech.

Its key innovation is the creation of a decentralised, untamperable record of transactions which anyone can access, aiding transparency and allowing the likes of the Co-op to prove the veracity and provenance of food and other items.

According to City AM, Co-op hopes to expand the trial to include luxury goods and artisanal items which customers can scan with their smartphone to prove that claims about items are correct.

Provenance would be a good fit for any proposed partnership with the retailer, after it recently completed an unrelated project utilising blockchain technology to ensure the transparency of responsibly sourced tuna stocks in Indonesia.

The startup’s founder, Jessi Baker, described the initiative as being ‘fairtrade for the modern age’ and that the Co-Op has a ‘very progressive’ view about how supermarkets should operate.

She added: “We’re not trying to be another certification - what we’re trying to be is a common method of access to the journey of items and to prove key claims on items labels.

“For brands, proving key claims about a product will be a key competitive advantage in future.”

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