The agri-food sector is facing today’s consumer demands in terms of sustainability, quality and traceability of the products they consume, including extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). Consumers want to know where the ingredients come from and corroborate their authenticity, which has driven an unprecedented demand for a smarter and safer food supply.
Deoleo, the world’s largest olive oil company, has always been committed to keeping the consumer at the center of all its strategic decisions, focusing on its products’ quality, transparency and sustainability.
This commitment, linked to the growing trend among consumers to know the traceability of the products they consume, led Deoleo to seek technological resources to support them. To this end, the company identified the its needs and then searched the market for the most disruptive technologies and the right technology partners to establish priorities and address the transformation.
This whole process culminated in the introduction of IBM’s blockchain technology to protect the traceability of Deoleo’s oils and drive certification of the sustainable processes carried out throughout the value chain.
In 2022, Deoleo became the first fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) EVOO company in Spain to show the origin and traceability of its products, bottle by bottle. It did this, hand in hand, with IBM providing technology and guidance. Together, the two companies introduced an innovative QR code unique to each of Deoleo’s bottle, enabling consumers to discover all the secrets of the EVOO they have purchased. By scanning the code directly with their mobile phones, consumers can travel through all the stages that a specific batch has gone through, discovering its origin, the olive varieties, the quality certification process, the flavors and the sustainable production origin of the Maestros de Hojiblanca brand’s oil. All this information is obtained through a database certified with IBM Food Trust®'s blockchain technology.
The journey of the oil, from the olive tree to the table, is available in the Spanish market through the three varieties of Maestros de Hojiblanca EVOO from the “Oda a Nuestra Tierra” range, blends no. 5, no. 6 and no. 7. Following this pilot test, the solution has been extended to different brands in different markets, such as France and the US.
The implementation was carried out by teams as diverse as the raw material purchasing department, quality, operations, marketing, IT and legal, always accompanied by IBM Consulting®. The critical moments in this process were the process definition and parameterization of IBM Food Trust, the design of the consumer interface, the integration of external partners and the adaptation of the packaging.
IBM technology has it made possible to launch, in a very short time, the most innovative and advanced solution for this type of product—especially considering complex aspects such as data from the entire value chain, unique, immutable, and independent verifications, incorporation of key suppliers, and the unique identification of each bottle of olive oil.
Even though the project has only been in operation for one year, Deoleo has identified a significant scope of results. The company is present with customized solutions implemented in three key markets for Deoleo: Spain, France and the US. And the IBM Food Trust solution provides traceability for four million bottles of EVOO per year.
Furthermore, it is important to highlight the great reception of the project among customers who are committed to transparency, suppliers who see that their work has a tangible reward, and the media who value a pioneering initiative in the agri-food sector.
Deoleo (link resides outside of ibm.com), a Spanish multinational food company and the world leader in the marketing of olive oil, is present in more than 70 countries on five continents. The company has factories in Spain and Italy and sales offices in 11 countries. Deoleo has leading brands worldwide, such as Bertolli, Carapelli and Figaro, as well as the Spanish brands Carbonell, Hojiblanca and Koipe.
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