Nueva Pescanova to Work with IBM Food Trust for Ocean Sustainability

Spanish seafood company, Nueva Pescanova and IBM will collaborate on the latter’s Food Trust platform to ensure the traceability of seafood products. If you’ve ever wondered where that delicious fillet of Salmon on your plate came from, this project might hold the answers. The IBM Food Trust is a blockchain-based network designed to collect data and ensure the product remains traceable throughout its journey. The initiative could provide a huge boost to ocean sustainability.

IBM Food Trust Will Support Compliance with GDST Standards

The joint undertaking by IBM and Nueva Pescanova is based on the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST) 1.0 standards. It is also in alignment with the United Nations Global Compact’s directions to achieve sustainable seafood and healthy oceans by 2030.

GDST standards play a vital role in data collection and digital record-keeping at each stage of the supply chain.

Under the current initiative, Nueva Pescanova launched a traceability drive at its operations in Argentina and Ecuador. The drive was extended to the company’s processing and marketing facilities in Spain. Nueva Pescanova’s CEO, Ignacio González explains that the project provides a transparent digital space “for the exchange and tracking of information on food products, designed to foster trust among users.”

The solution enables producers, wholesalers, and retailers spread across the supply chain to access and interact with product data in near real-time.

Partnership with Nueva Pescanova Will Help Further the Cause of Sustainable Fishing  

González views the project as the right step towards providing the company’s global consumer base with “rigorous and detailed information on the traceability” of its seafood products. He also expects other seafood businesses to take cues from the initiative and implement measures to address GDST standards.

Seafood consumers around the world are becoming increasingly conscious of their choices. More people are interested in the ethics and the sources of the delicacies they relish. In December 2020, IBM published the results of a survey conducted by Morning Consult on its behalf. According to the survey’s results, almost half the respondents would readily buy seafood products that came with reliable information on their origin, production, and safety. In another survey carried out by the IBM Institute for Business Value, 79% of the participants surveyed believed that brands must offer guarantees of authenticity for their products.