In today's agribusiness landscape, the demand for transparency and access to information about the origin and processing of products is becoming increasingly important. This trend, coupled with the growing consumer focus on sustainability, has provided an opportunity to develop innovative solutions. 

It is in this context that the Institute of Information Systems and Networking (ISIN) of SUPSI's Department of Innovative Technologies launched the Blockcheese project on behalf of the Economic Division of the Department of Finance and Economics of Canton Ticino, with the accompaniment of the Ticino Society of Alpine Economics (STEA) and the technical collaboration of DOS Group SA. Among the main goals is to be able to inform the final consumer about the entire manufacturing process, increasing the perception of the entire supply chain. At the same time, Blockcheese intends to digitize the certification process of Ticino DOP alpine cheese to the different control bodies. A process that today is largely done on paper.

One of the emerging technologies that is proving particularly effective in addressing these needs is blockchain. Known for its application in digital transactions, blockchain offers high traceability and transparency of information. Because of these features, it has the potential to reliably track and document every step in the cheese production chain, from pasture to table.

With this in mind, ISIN conducted a feasibility study to verify the applicability of blockchain to the context of Ticino PDO Alpine Cheese production. This study resulted in the two-pronged approach of the Blockcheese project: on the one hand, the creation of a dedicated application for producers that allows registration through a tablet; on the other hand, the creation of a dedicated application for consumers. Both applications were developed by the company DOS Group SA.

For manufacturers, the tablet application allows them to digitize production records, eliminating the need to manage paper documents. Digitizing this information makes the process more efficient and accurate, while at the same time allowing the creation of an immutable digital record on the blockchain.

For consumers, on the other hand, the app offers direct and transparent access to the Ticino PDO Alpine Cheese supply chain. By simply scanning a QR code, information about that individual piece of cheese will be available at the touch of a smartphone, with unprecedented transparency.

Vanni Galli, lecturer-researcher at ISIN, stresses the importance of this innovation: "The solution we have implemented not only has the potential to make record management easier for mountain pastures, but also lays the groundwork for better food transparency, opening up new perspectives in consumers' perception of and trust in food products."

Stefano Rizzi, Director of the Economic Division of the DFE, notes for his part that: "given the successful outcome of the experimental phase, the possibility of integrating Blockcheese into a broader context by including it in the regional development project Alpine Excellence, which is scheduled to start in early 2024. Blockcheese will also make it possible to exploit the data collected, such as those related to the mountain pasture where the cheese is produced, in a territorial marketing perspective. This can also be interesting for enhancing our agri-food products and the characteristics of our territory at the tourism level."

The implementation of Blockcheese involved several challenges, including adapting an advanced technology such as blockchain to the specificities of the cheese supply chain and creating intuitive and user-friendly applications for the different actors involved. The goal was to make these tools easy to use for both producers in the mountain pasture and end consumers. Thanks to the fruitful collaboration between ISIN, the Division of Economics and DOS Group SA, these challenges were overcome, leading to the creation of a pioneering project in the field of food traceability.

"This project represents a significant step forward," Galli concludes. The results obtained are very promising, and in the future we expect to be able to extend the application to more mountain pastures, to involve more players in the sector and to develop more multimedia content to be made available to the end consumer."