Growing Demand for Transparency: Mastercard and GrainChain Give Producers Visibility into Commodity Supply Chains

New partnership brings authenticity to supply chains, tracing more than 24 commodities, such as coffee, sorghum and grain, in Latin America and North America

Today, Mastercard announced a collaboration with GrainChain, a technology company that enables supply chain visibility, empowering suppliers and farmers while reducing risks to buyers in the United States, Mexico and Central America.

Using Mastercard’s award-winning proprietary and industry-agnostic blockchain technology, Mastercard and GrainChain together can create digital records of commodity data, marking Mastercard Provenance Solution’s entry into Central America.

Greater complexity and lack of visibility across global supply chains has made it increasingly difficult for brands to uphold standards and protect their reputations. Together with GrainChain, Mastercard Provenance Solution delivers end-to-end visibility throughout the supply chain, allowing participants to forensically track commodities, from the initial inputs and raw materials to harvesting and processing to logistics and delivery to the consumer’s hands. Doing so enables brands and producers to proactively protect consumers and manage their brand reputation, business efficiencies and bottom line.

“The traceability market is a global industry, and the digital identity of products and goods is even more critical today as consumers, brands and governments demand to know where products and services are from,” said Deborah Barta, Senior Vice President of Innovation and Startup Engagement. “With Mastercard Provenance Solution, we’re focused on helping parties benefit from reliable data, which brings efficiencies throughout supply chains, ultimately helping to protect consumers. With our first partnership in Central America, the collaboration with GrainChain demonstrates our ability to scale globally and transform supply chains across new industries."

"We're leveling the playing field for the hard-working producers in North America and Latin America, giving them much more power and control over the process of producing and selling,” said Luis Macias, CEO and Founder of GrainChain. “Small suppliers in countries around the world suffer from a lack of reliable real-time information and deserve transparency, accountability and profitability with streamlined global trade.  Through our new partnership with Mastercard, we are providing an unparalleled level of efficiency, reliability, transparency, and security to the entire commodity supply chain.”

Building a Global Network of Trust

As one of the top blockchain patent filers and holders in the financial services industry, Mastercard is committed to convening partners and stakeholders in the commerce ecosystem to support their businesses and customers. Mastercard has filed several patent applications covering key elements of its Mastercard Provenance Solution. By using our permissioned blockchain and combining partner blockchain technologies with Mastercard assets, we’re able to drive visibility into product journeys and provide a clear record of traceability designed to contribute to consumer confidence, trust and awareness across a wide variety of industries, including food, cosmetics, electronics, logistics, retail, and more.