The state of the global supply chain over the past few years has been strained at best. A once reliable system has been heavily disrupted by major world events, and no one is sure when normality will return.
The seemingly never-ending chain of disruptions has caused many businesses to take pause and assess what can be done to lessen the impact. Could blockchain be the answer they’re looking for?
The blockchain — specifically the Helium network — has the potential to revolutionize the way we track our goods. Properly utilized, blockchain can help make the food and drink supply chain safer and more reliable.
In this article, we’re going to explain what the Helium network is, how Helium uses IoT to improve asset tracking, and how blockchain is used for food traceability. 
What is Helium?
Helium is a decentralized, blockchain-based wireless network that provides internet connectivity to small, low-power devices. These devices are able to send small packets of data back and forth over long distances, making them ideal for usage with the IoT (Internet of Things).
Dubbed “The People’s Network”, Helium is built through open-source technologies and offers a low-power, low-cost solution for businesses looking to utilize blockchain.
The Helium network has a wide range of applications, including mining cryptocurrency, expanding internet capabilities, and — most importantly for us — food traceability. Helium powers the infrastructure we need to collect and relay data in real-time to the relevant parties.
All of the data points can be made publicly available throughout the food supply chain through the blockchain via the Helium network. This offers an unparalleled level of transparency for food and beverage retailers, distributors, and consumers.
All of this is why Helium was the perfect fit for Buffalo Market to improve our traceability efforts.
How is blockchain used in the food supply chain?
Blockchain’s main advantage for the food supply chain is how it improves transparency and traceability. It allows us to offer a higher level of food safety for our customers by identifying potential issues in the supply chain before they become a problem.
To be able to trace our food from the farm to our shelves, we need a secure way of keeping track of products throughout the supply chain. Given the ever-increasing complexity of the supply chain, this is easier said than done. The blockchain helps us by offering a high level of security for our records with an immutable record of all transactions.
Simply scanning a barcode at each point in the supply chain will record all the required data, from the location to the temperature the food is stored at. It’s a quick, simple, and reliable way of tracking food as it travels across the world and eliminates the chance of human error.
Food traceability is hugely improved by combining the IoT with blockchain technology, which is why Helium is such a great choice. Businesses can achieve increased transparency through technology and even automate the entire process to ensure nothing is missed. 
Why is traceability important in the food supply chain?
According to the CDC, 48 million people get sick each year from foodborne illnesses, resulting in 128,000 hospitalizations and 3000 deaths. These illnesses aren’t always caused by poor cooking or preparation. Food can pick up disease-causing germs at any point throughout the supply chain. Without a reliable way to cut off contamination at the source, food-borne public health crises can grow at a terrifying rate.
Being able to trace our food across every stage of the supply chain helps us reduce the risk of public health scares. It allows us to quickly and easily identify where the contamination occurred. This means we can take action to remove that source of contamination from the supply chain and remove all goods coming from that location from circulation.
There is also a surprisingly large amount of food fraud still occurring within our supply chain. Some food fraud is harmless as far as public health is concerned, only causing financial issues. However, there have been cases of food fraud that have caused serious harm.
Some of these issues include incorrect allergy labeling, causing health issues in a small number of allergy sufferers. Some are even more serious, as we saw in China when synthetic chemicals were purposely introduced into infant formula. This was done in an attempt to make it seem like the product contained more protein than it actually did, but it resulted in over 300,000 illnesses including fatal kidney failure.
Using the blockchain to trace our food helps stamp out issues like this and improve our response in the face of public health scares. It provides us with a transaction record that cannot be altered, ensuring complete accountability through every step of the journey. This gives no room for food fraud to occur and helps us combat health issues before they affect the public. 
What is the Internet of Things?
You will have seen the IoT (Internet of Things) mentioned quite a lot during our series of articles on blockchain usage in the food industry. If you’re not sure what exactly that is, you’re not alone.
The Internet of Things has quickly emerged as a key part of the way our world works. It’s used for far more real-world applications than you may realize. Yet for most of the public, the IoT is still a mystery.
Put simply, the Internet of Things is a network of internet-enabled small devices. Almost any physical object can become part of the IoT as long as it can connect to the internet. There are billions of devices already making up the IoT, spanning a huge range of things from airplanes to tiny GPS trackers. This explains why the term Internet of Things is so vague, as “things” really can refer to anything.
The IoT is currently being used for countless applications from traffic management, to inventory management, food traceability, and even switching on the TV through a digital home assistant like Alexa.
How does Helium use IoT to improve asset tracking?
Combining IoT devices with Helium allows businesses to track their assets with little to no effort. Most tracking systems require a human worker to log each shipment by scanning a digital barcode with a handheld reader, or even an old-fashioned pen and notepad.
This leaves us open to human error. Something as simple as forgetting to scan a pallet can create a high level of risk in the event of a recall. We won’t be able to track that pallet in the event of contamination, which means it cannot be recalled.
By implementing an IoT system and tracking it through the Helium blockchain network, we can eliminate these cases of human error. We can attach a low-cost sensor to each shipment and set up devices that will automatically interact with the sensor to exchange information and log it on the blockchain.
This means you can see exactly where a product has been, where it is now, how long it’s been there, what conditions it was kept in, and much more. All this without manual labor? Count us in!
Challenges of Helium for asset tracking
As much as we love the Helium network, we know it’s not without its challenges. For one, it can be expensive to overhaul how your business operates. Thankfully, the Helium network and its devices are a low-cost option, improving accessibility.
However, the system still requires buy-in from every single point in the supply chain. Any dead spot in the chain can be the weak link that causes the whole thing to fall apart. This also means that businesses may need to source new suppliers and farms to make sure their traceability efforts are effective.
Businesses should also keep security in mind. Using a public network opens up the possibility of third parties accessing your data. This is a key concern for businesses looking to surpass their competitors. This also means that experienced employees are needed to manage the data.
Another reason businesses may need to hire a blockchain expert is that accessing and understanding data on the blockchain is more complicated than traditional methods. There’s a huge lack of familiarity with this new technology, especially within the agricultural sector where we most need it.
Lastly, we need to remember that the food and beverage industry is enormous. As we scale our blockchain traceability efforts, there’s a risk that we end up with too much data to handle.
While these issues have yet to manifest themselves, we’re still in the early stages of blockchain adoption. We need to be cautious going forward to ensure we scale responsibly and support those working in the agriculture sector when it comes to purchasing IoT infrastructure.
We at Buffalo Market have been using the Helium network for our blockchain needs for years now. We want to bring all its benefits to your food and beverage company.
Our blog has everything you would ever need to know about the blockchain, and once you’re up to speed, our excellent customer service team is ready and waiting to onboard you! We can’t wait to meet you.
Support
Sales