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Consumers can follow orange juice route with blockchain

A year ago, SOMO published “Juice with a bitter aftertaste”, a paper on the orange juice industry and the role of Dutch supermarkets. Three-quarters of the orange juice in Dutch supermarkets originates from Brazil, where labour conditions for pickers are often substandard  Pickers are not paid a living wage, are required to work long hours and are exposed to toxic pesticides at work.  The report calls on Dutch supermarkets to use their power in the supply chain to improve labour conditions.

Albert Heijn supermarkets and Refresco  Refresco is the supplier of Albert Heijn’s store-brand juice. This juice come from Brazilian juice processor Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC Juice), one of three companies which dominate the world juice market.  drinks bottler have now decided to make their product chains transparent with the help of blockchain technology.

Gisela ten Kate: “This is a good step forward in the area of transparency – setting a good example for other supermarkets. We hope that this will lead to real progress for fruit growers and orange pickers.”