Blockchain technology could help strengthen confidence in restaurants

While taste and price remain the main priorities, more consumers are starting to consider the safety and sustainability of ingredients during catering – a challenge to which restaurants are working to take up.

To support this change, researchers from the University of Missouri are studying how a revolutionary technology could allow consumers to follow the ingredients throughout the supply chain will affect their decision -making processes.

“Customers have become more and more concerned about the origin of their food, whether it is a sustainable manner and how sure it is to eat,” said Péi Liu, an associate professor of hotel management at the college of agriculture, food and natural resources.

Many guests find it difficult to verify this information because restaurants rarely publish the way their food comes in a clear or consistent manner. This lack of information reproduces uncertainty for customers. But Liu and his team found a potential solution: the blockchain.

Blockchain uses a decentralized, secure and transparent transactions for transactions on several computers. Once validated, each transaction is linked cryptographically to that which before it, which makes data extremely resistant to falsification or unauthorized modifications. This immutability helps promote confidence and transparency in shared systems.

When restaurants use blockchain to give consumers greater visibility in their supply chains – a practice known as food traceability – it strengthens confidence in sustainable foods, researchers have revealed. This confidence not only improves global culinary experience, but also strengthens the restaurant’s reputation. In fact, the study has revealed that consumers are more willing to pay premium prices when blockchain transparency reduces their concerns about food security. Because food security has been the most influential factor in their decision -making, this increased confidence could ultimately increase the income of restaurants.

Show their work

Liu was inspired by his collaborator of the Department of Textiles and Clothes of the College of Arts and Science, who informed it that blockchain is used for traceability in the fashion industry. There, it can be used to follow the cotton of its farmers; For Liu, it can be used to follow the ingredients of the supply chain, thanks to a radio-frequency identification label (RFID).

The RFID would be scanned at each stage: first when an ingredient is sealed and palletized for shipping, again when it has entered the cold quality storage and once again at the exit. He would then be digitized because he left the manufacturing center, entering the distribution center and leaving for a restaurant. When he arrived at the restaurant, he would be scanned when he was placed in the cooler without an appointment, and finally, a last time before leaving the cooler to cook.

For consumers, this whole process becomes accessible via a simple QR code in the menu, and because the blockchain is unchanging, consumers can easily rest important information on the source of their food.

“It will show customers when the dishes were made and what farm the ingredients come, where the farm was and how the ingredient was transported,” said Liu. “We believe that our results could help restaurants establish confidence with customers.”

This type of process is currently used by certain restaurants in large American coastal cities and others in Europe.

After explaining the process to its participants in the survey, Liu wanted to answer the question of how three types of consumption concerns affected the perception of consumers of transparency provided by blockchain.

During consumer intervention, Liu expected these three concerns – food safety, health awareness and the environment – at the slightest importance for consumers. She was surprised to discover that health awareness and environmental concerns have not created as much uncertainty as food security problems. Consumers with a higher level of uncertainty about food security concerns were the most likely to pay attention to the additional transparency provided by blockchain, said Liu.

The study also showed that when consumers thought that the transparency of a blockchain provided clear and easy -to -understand information who attenuated their concerns about food safety, they were ready to pay more for their meals.

Demographic data have also influenced consumers’ uncertainty on food sustainability and their opening to blockchain technology as a possible solution.

“The older guests and those who had higher educational history were more sensitive to the transparency of the blockchain,” said Liu.

Future Liu studies will examine whether the assertion of a restaurant that it has a menu verified in blockchain is enough to reduce uncertainty or if consumers really need to see the data for themselves to feel confident.

The study, “sustainable food tradability on blockchain: exploring consumer decisions in restaurants through the theory of reduction of uncertainty”, was published in British food journal.

The co-authors are Song-Yi You of Mizzou’s College of Arts and Science, and Qianni (Jacqueline) Zhu, a doctoral student in Mizzou.