Mastercard's Blockchain and GrainChain to provide visibility into Commodity Supply Chain

Mastercard announced its partnership with the agricultural blockchain firm, GrainChain.

With the help of Mastercard proprietary Blockchain vertical ‘Provenance’, the two firms aim to create digital records of commodities across the supply chains in Central America, the US, and Mexico.

The partnership helps trace more than 24 commodities like coffee, sorghum, and grain in Latin & North America.

Deborah Barta, Senior Vice President of Innovation and Startup Engagement at Mastercard, said, "The traceability market is a global industry, and the digital identity of products and goods is even more critical today as consumers, brands and governments demand to know where products and services are from. With Mastercard Provenance Solution, we’re focused on helping parties benefit from reliable data, which brings efficiencies throughout supply chains, ultimately helping to protect consumers. With our first partnership in Central America, the collaboration with GrainChain demonstrates our ability to scale globally and transform supply chains across new industries."

Luis Macias, CEO, and Founder of GrainChain, said, "We're leveling the playing field for the hard-working producers in North America and Latin America, giving them much more power and control over the process of producing and selling. Small suppliers in countries around the world suffer from a lack of reliable real-time information and deserve transparency, accountability, and profitability with streamlined global trade. Through our new partnership with Mastercard, we are providing an unparalleled level of efficiency, reliability, transparency, and security to the entire commodity supply chain."

GrainChain is best known for its blockchain solution targeting the Honduras coffee industry, a country where 20% of the population is employed in the sector. Its offering enables settlement and traceability.

With the help of Provenance, participants will be able to ‘forensically track’ these commodities, with blockchain technology. This way, brands, and farmers are able to protect both the consumers and their reputation.

Moreover, Mastercard has fully embraced blockchain and distributed ledger technology. This is not the first time Mastercard has partnered with the agritech firm either.

Last year, it announced the partnership with Envisible to integrate Provenance with Envisible food traceability system, Wholechain.