Blockchain: From Bitcoins to Blueberries

By Capital Press

Blueberry harvest may be winding down across Oregon’s Willamette Valley, but there is still plenty of activity happening at the Curry & Co. processing plant north of Salem, writes George Plaven at Capital Press.

Forklift drivers stacked crates of berries from local farms into large freezers on Aug. 21, while workers finished sorting and packaging the fruit as it passed along automated conveyor belts. From there, 8 million pounds of fresh blueberries will be shipped to major retailers such as Walmart, Costco and Kroger, as well as overseas to countries including South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore.

Aaron Ensign, president of Curry & Co., said it can be difficult to track so much produce through such a large supply chain. That’s why the company recently partnered with technology giant Intel on a pilot project to test a new logistics platform using blockchain technology — the same tool responsible for tracking cryptocurrencies like Bitcoins.

Continue reading at Capital Press.