A Smart-Contract Enabled Blockchain Traceability System Against Wine Supply Chain Counterfeiting

Abstract

The need for effective traceability in the wine industry has dramatically increased in recent years due to the growing consumer awareness of the safety and the quality of products they buy. The loss of visibility as to the origin of a product can cause significant disruptions in the production and distribution of goods but also poses serious fraud risks. More specifically, bad or counterfeit wines may be produced and marketed when they can't be traced at all stages effectively. Fraud, such as adulteration with low-quality raw materials and wines, dilution, replacement of packaging contents and forgery of packages and labels, can be detected at the various stages of the wine supply chain. In order to combat wine supply chain counterfeiting blockchain technology has gained increased popularity as a means of enabling a secure traceability system. This paper presents the development of a smart-contracts-enabled blockchain traceability system that has been specifically designed for the wine supply chain and operates through the Ethereum Network.