Don’t get fooled buying premium oysters only to find out they came from some crappy farm. While it may not be an ‘everyday problem’ the possibility of seafood forgery is real and something that could be stamped out of the industry in the future thanks to blockchain tech company Security Matters (ASX: SMX) which has developed digital markers that can be applied to oysters.
The digital markers are being targeted towards the superfood industry where organic products fetch a premium price, but can be prone to forgery and supply chain diversions. Utilising blockchain technology, Security Matters has developed food-grade markers that have been successfully applied to a live oyster which can be traced back digitally via to blockchain to identify its origination.
These markers are part of Security Matters’ plan to digitise physical objects to enable a circular and closed loop economy, which enable users to trade the movement of an object, via unique tracking like that of popular non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
“SMX is excited to have successfully developed a food grade marker system for oysters,” said Security Matters Founder and CEO, Haggai Alon.
“This is the first of several large superfood markets where our technology can be applied to provide all value chain players with the ability to meet the consumers and stakeholders’ expectations on the origination of their products and sustainability, whilst also increasing the marketability of products which has the potential to increase sales.”
The concept of oyster tracking was borne by Security Matters in response to a trend in the global oysters market where farms were targeted by thieves who then re-sold them due to a lack of traceability on the live crustaceans.
These digital blockchain markers however, have proven to not be affected by refrigerated environments, logistics and transport conditions and procedures that are typical to the industry and sustained through the shelf life of the oysters.
In 2018, the global market for oysters was valued at USD $7.5 billion and is the first of the superfood category that has been targeted by Security Matters for ownership verification markers. The Company has already begun marketing the digital markers to oyster suppliers and is confident that their addition can be seamlessly integrated into cleaning and packaging processes.
In 2022 the Security Matters food division will expand its operations further by including the ability to mark, track and trace wine, cocoa, palm oil, soy and other kinds of seeds.
All SMX markers are linked to a digital twin on the blockchain, which is regarded to be particularly forgery-proof.
Alfred Chan is a Business Reporter at The Sentiment specialising in ASX-listed small cap companies, a bloodstock enthusiast and former equities analyst.
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