The Japanese branch of Ernst & Young has announced that it is planning to launch a blockchain system (SAKE Blockchain) to curb the sale of counterfeit products. The firm confirmed that it will roll out the platform all throughout Asia once the global business scenario comes out of the COVID-19 threat. E&Y is also targeting Hong Kong and Singapore to launch DLT systems in the near future.
SAKE Blockchain and its purpose
Last year, Japan exported alcoholic beverages worth $223 million and fruit exports also increased massively.
With E&Y’s SAKE Blockchain, Japanese authorities will track and record all sorts of supply chain details including product information, origin, and delivery. The primary objective of implementing this blockchain-based solution is to fight the rampant culture of counterfeiting products.
Talking about the blockchain-based solution, EY Advisory & Consulting partner Hideaki Kajiura commented, “Being able to tell the story of the production and origin will help to differentiate it from fake products.”
Consumer benefits
End consumers will be able to access all product-related information by scanning a QR code on the packaging. The information will be available in three languages – English, Chinese and Korean.
Furthermore, temperature records of all products will also be stored on the blockchain to ensure that these are maintained at optimal temperatures throughout the supply chain.
Moreover, this sort of detailed and organized data across the supply chain will also help producers to formulate new strategies related to cutting production cost and executing marketing campaigns.
E&Y’s Blockchain History
E&Y forayed into the blockchain space last year with its proprietary DLT solution, which is being used by Blockchain Wine Pte. Ltd. The firm’s blockchain solution has been tracking the authenticity, supply chain, and ingredients of European wines in the Asian market since last year.
In the first half of 2019, E&Y also launched its open-source smart contract and tokenization platform Baseline in collaboration with Microsoft and ConsenSys.
