One of the leading general trading companies in Japan ITOCHU has led the recent investment round for Agritech company Farmer Connect. The Agritech company provides farmers with access to their ecosystem through an application called Farmer ID.
The recent announcement by Farmer Connect outlined the $9m Series A funding round which will be used to help create sustainable, traceable, food supply chains. The specifics of what this investment will be used for includes the development of new products and services in ESG and SDG tracking, the recruitment of specialists in sectors such as coffee, cacao, tea, spices, and fragrances, and building new teams across the world.
Control of personal data has been a well-debated issue, and a hot topic in the application of blockchain technology. Farmer Connect’s vision, to ‘humanize consumption through technology’ will use technology to develop food traceability to benefit farmers and consumers, while protecting the data of everyone involved. Farmer Connect’s successful investment round will allow it to expand into other sectors, having previously focused on coffee.
Globally coffee is a multi-billion dollar industry that experts predict will continue to grow. With such a large global demand for coffee (the second most traded commodity after oil) it is difficult to navigate the complex supply chain. The Farmer ID solution allows users to scan a barcode on their coffee beans, and trace the coffee’s journey from farmer all the way to the consumer.
The application of track and trace technology is cross-industry. However, the utility of blockchain tracking technology for ethical practice and social responsibility is particularly strong. Farmer Connect notes how traceability can be a way to end child labour, not only in the coffee suply chain, but also in other industries that make use of child labour, such as the textiles industry.
Farmer Connect has seen strong growth since it was launched in 2019. Last year the prestigious U.K. university London School of Economics teamed up with Farmer Connect in a research collaboration to run a series of trials and studies to determine the behaviour of consumers. Prior to that they partnered with the coffee company JM Smucker, and Jacobs Douwe Egberts.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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