Eka’s blockchain marketplace app is now the world’s first live use of a blockchain-enabled private marketplace for coffee trading.
The Coffee Board of India is using Eka’s app to connect the producers to an efficient marketplace while providing ‘bean-to-cup’ transparency and traceability, another global first for a mainstream crop.
With this app, the Coffee Board of India hopes to empower 350,000 coffee growers in India to access real-time pricing and trading.
Coffee production is a significant export crop for India and the use of breakthrough technology is connecting its growers (98% of whom are small growers) to the benefits of a transparent, real-time marketplace. With this app, the Coffee Board also aims to help coffee growers command a fair price for high-quality coffee that can be traced back to its source.
Speaking about the app, Srivatsa Krishna, CEO at Coffee Board of India said, “The blockchain-enabled marketplace is aimed at reducing growers’ dependency on intermediaries, bringing in trust and efficiency in the chain, ensuring traceability and helping farmers with market access.”
“We tested blockchain-based solutions from a couple of other providers but Eka suited our requirements the most.” Srivatsa further added.
The blockchain initiative is aimed at:
- Giving coffee growers better control over marketing their produce
- Delivering access to more efficient price discovery
- Providing traceability and transparency in the value chain
- Allowing growers and farmers to reach a wider set of buyers
- Eliminating middlemen in the coffee buying process
Eka offers coffee growers an Ethereum-enabled private marketplace. Ethereum is the blockchain platform running smart contracts that will enable growers to eliminate counterparty risks and middlemen.
“With this go-live, we are confident that the Coffee Board of India will help the Indian coffee trade make more inroads into the premium market internationally and make India one of the top three coffee producers in the world. I’m optimistic that this will set an example for the Indian agriculture industry and hopefully will pave the way for modernization of traditional sectors like commodities, which still rely on outdated processes that impact quality and profitability.”
Manav further added: “Using blockchain to trade commodities will help to create a fairer market, which is especially important for the small producers. We are proud to have Eka play a key role in this.”
Having the ability to trace the coffee bean to the farmer will enable India’s coffee growers to add value to their products and achieve a premium price for them in the international market.
The project gives everyone across the supply chain the opportunity to be an active participant in the workflow. In the next phase, Eka plans to connect with payment gateways so that farmers can be paid faster.
Eka’s solutions are blockchain and cloud-powered, offering greater flexibility and ease-of-use to the user. The mobile aspect is a significant move towards modernization of an otherwise traditional sector.
