BeefLedger: Cross-Border Beef Supply Chain Based on Blockchain Technology

Food safety and fraud were long-standing issues in China. For some imported products, such as Australian beef steak, food fraud could be a massive issue: consumers could purchase the wrong or even harmful products, and legitimate brands subsequently lost sales and reputation. BeefLedger Ltd. (BeefLedger) was an Australian blockchain start-up company that aimed to solve these issues by using blockchain technology to supply authentic beef products to customers in China and elsewhere. The technology also significantly improved transparency in the beef supply chain. Since 2017, BeefLedger had gained important experience in this area and achieved a certain level of success.<br><br>The concept of blockchain, proposed in late 2008 and used successfully used in finance since then, was still in its infancy in other areas. The next promising field to adopt blockchain was supply chain management, where the technology had the potential to revolutionize the supply chain with its unique functions, including immutability and decentralization. However, many challenges emerged for BeefLedger during blockchain implementation—especially in early 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic and Australia–China tensions. BeefLedger now had to determine how to handle these recent challenges.

This case is suitable for graduate-level courses on supply chain management as well as for general managers, supply chain managers, and operations managers.<br><br>It presents the decision undertaken by BeefLedger in its implementation of blockchain and the approach it took to overcome related barriers to ensure food safety and reduce risks in the cross-border beef supply chain. The case allows students to explore the value of blockchain technology in food supply chain management in a real business environment. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will have achieved the following:<ul><li>a basic understanding of blockchain technology: its features and strengths</li><li> an understanding of cross-border beef supply chain management</li><li>a better understanding of how blockchain technology can address current food supply chain issues</li><li>an understanding of the current situation of blockchain implementation in the food supply chain</li><li>the ability to apply information processing theory to carry out an analysis of a case</li></ul>

• blockchain
• beef supply chain
• cross border