One of the world’s largest meat processing company, JBS of Brazil will be using blockchain technology to cross-check information of the its direct suppliers with livestock transportation data from preceding links in the supply chain.
By using blockchain, the company will guarantee the confidentiality and security of the personal, commercial and sanitary information of the produce technology
Blockchain is the foundational technology of the JBS Green Platform, which is designed to anchor the “development of the value chain” – one of the key pillars of JBS’ new “Together for the Amazon” programme.
The new sustainability program is a set of initiatives that seeks to enhance conservation and development of the Amazon Biome, engaging the livestock industry and proposing actions that go beyond its value chain. The program encompasses climate change, which was allocated priority within the JBS global sustainability targets presented in 2019.
The other three pillars of Together for the Amazon are: forest conservation and restoration; support for the communities; and, scientific and technological development.
"We are publicly reiterating our commitment to the sustainability of the Amazon. We hope to scale up, not only in combatting deforestation, but also in fostering the bio-economy, sustainable agriculture and social development,” said Gilberto Tomazoni, global CEO of JBS.
Based in Sao Paulo, JBS is a multinational food company with presence in 15 countries. It has a diversified product portfolio, ranging from fresh and frozen meats to prepared meals – commercialised through brands, such as Friboi, Swift, Seara, Pilgrim’s Pride, Plumrose, Primo, among others.
JBS also operates with correlated businesses, such as leather, biodiesel, collagen, natural casings for cold cuts, hygiene & cleaning, metal packaging, transportation, and solid waste management solutions, innovative operations that also promote the sustainability of the entire business value chain.
In all locations where JBS operates, more than 230,000 team members follow the same guidelines concerning economic, social and environmental sustainability aspects, innovation, quality and food safety.
Four-phase implementation of the JBS Green platform
JBS plans to roll out is blockchain-based Green Platform in four-phases. By December 2020 hopes to complete the development of the platform and rounds out its strategy of communication and engagement with the supply chain
The second phase will see the JBS Green platform in operation, which will be marked by the beginning of the analyses of the suppliers of the direct suppliers of JBS in the state of Mato Grosso. This will also be the period when the entire livestock farming sector will be notified of the project.
The third phase will involve the expansion of the platform to the other states in the Amazon Biome. And finally, the fourth phase by direct suppliers to the Green Platform becomes a condition for selling cattle to JBS
By the end of 2025, JBS aims all its direct suppliers in the Amazon Biome on the JBS Green platform. JBS will provide legal, environmental and animal husbandry advisory to assist producers with improvements in stewardship and the environmental regularisation of their properties, while also expanding its educational actions in sustainability to its supply chain.
The Green Platform will be linked with the company’s monitoring system in a two-way link to share information.
JBS has been using this monitoring system for over a decade to cover 100% of its cattle supplying farms using strict sustainability criteria, including zero tolerance of deforestation, encroachment on protected areas like indigenous lands or environmental conservation units, hard labour, or the use of areas embargoed by Ibama. The system delivers daily analysis covers more than 50,000 properties in the Amazon region, an area greater than the size of Germany.
Already, monitoring by JBS in the Amazon has already enabled commercial embargoes on 9,000 ranches whose status is non-compliance with the company’s procurement policies.
JBS Fund for the Amazon
Meanwhile, the other three pillars of the Together for the Amazon programme will be achieved through a new fund created to finance initiatives for expanding forest conservation, promoting sustainable development of the local communities, as well as scientific and technological development,
JBS has agreed to a minimum donation of R$250 million to this fund in the first five years to ensure that start fund’s activities and the implementation of its initiatives. With the participation of other stakeholders, the target is to reach R$1 billion by 2030.
The fund will be headed up by Joanita Maestri Karoleski, former CEO of Seara, with the support of a board of directors, a fiscal council, a consultative council and a technical committee. The latter two will assist in choosing the projects that will receive contributions, audited by KPMG. The entire process will be reported, and the results published on the programme site.
