Blockchain and Food Traceability: Real Results in Lombardy’s Bread Supply Chain

Blockchain technology now brings a new level of Supply Chain transparency to Lombardy’s bread food supply chain. The groundbreaking QuiVicino project tracks about 1300 quintals of soft wheat grown on 21 hectares in Italy’s Bergamo province.

The bread made with QuiVicino flour comes with QR codes that let consumers track each batch’s complete path, providing Farm-to-Bakery Data. They can see everything from agricultural suppliers to storage facilities, mills, and bakeries. Genuine Way created blockchain technology solutions specifically for this food supply chain to verify and record the flour’s complete agricultural food chain used in bread production. The project started with just 5 bakers and has grown quickly. Now 15 new local businesses in Bergamo have joined, and there are plans to expand across Italy.

The project uses the next-generation EOS.IO public blockchain. This technology supports environmental and social sustainability and provides great potential for scalability and replicability in other applications. This piece explores how blockchain technology in supply chain management revolutionizes traditional bread production. It builds consumer trust and helps local agriculture thrive.

QuiVicino Project: A Blockchain-Backed Bread Supply Chain

The QuiVicino project started in October 2021 to modernize Italian Region Lombardy’s traditional bread supply chain. “Qui Vicino” (meaning “nearby” in Italian), captures the project’s essence – it connects consumers to local ingredients through state-of-the-art technology.

Stakeholders Involved: Aspan, Coldiretti, Cefriel, Genuine Way

The project brings together organizations from every part of the bread production ecosystem:

• Aspan (Association of Artisan Bakers of the Province of Bergamo) represents bakeries that use blockchain-verified bread products.
• Coldiretti Bergamo links local wheat farmers to the food supply chain (Coldiretti, with 1.6 million members, is the main Italian organization of agricultural entrepreneurs).
• Cefriel, an innovation center founded by Politecnico di Milano, acts as the scientific partner and analyzes supply chain details.
• Genuine Way builds the blockchain technology infrastructure on the EOS public blockchain protocol.

I&T Hub (Innovation & Technology Hub) of Imprese & Territorio coordinates the project, while Coesi Confcooperative Bergamo leads it. This team approach covers every step of bread production – from wheat fields to bakery shelves.

Goals: Product Transparency, Local Sourcing, Digitalization

The QuiVicino initiative focuses on three main goals that match what today’s consumers want:

• The project makes product authenticity and origins completely verifiable. Each bakery gets a unique QR code that customers scan to see the product’s entire supply chain story. This builds consumer trust by showing exactly where ingredients come from.
• QuiVicino tackles an interesting challenge – despite Italy’s famous bakery variety, most of its wheat comes from other countries. The project promotes “Qui Vicino” branded flour made by local farmers and millers working together emphazing local sourching. In Italy these initiatives are called “kilometer zero”, because that name indicates the maximum proximity between those who produce and those who consume. This creates profitable, short supply chains in Lombardy.
• The project turns old paper records into permanent digital entries, driving digitalization. Nadia Fabrizio, Head of Cefriel Blockchain Lab explains, “Using blockchain means having immutable, available, and transparent information, reducing costs associated with paper-managed processes, and concretely addressing environmental concerns”. The technology creates unique digital fingerprints for each record on the blockchain.

The project started with five bakeries and now includes fifteen more local businesses in Bergamo province. They plan to expand throughout Italy (scalability and replicability).

Blockchain Technology in Supply Chain Tracking

The QuiVicino project makes use of blockchain technology to transform traditional supply chain tracking into a transparent, tamper-proof record system. This digital innovation builds a secure foundation that traces bread ingredients from farm to bakery counter.

 EOS.IO Blockchain: Public, Scalable, and Sustainable

The project team chose EOS.IO blockchain protocol as its technical infrastructure because it offers several advantages over conventional blockchain networks. EOS.IO performs remarkably well with 3,996 transactions per second compared to Bitcoin and Ethereum’s approximately 15 per second. This speed will give real-time tracking capabilities that food supply management needs.

EOS.IO’s Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) consensus mechanism is 66,454 times more energy-efficient than Bitcoin and 17,236 times more efficient than Ethereum. This green approach lines up with QuiVicino’s broader ethical objectives of sustainability.

The architecture provides flexibility through:

• Horizontal scaling features that add processing power without bottlenecks
• 0.5-second block time with 1-2 second confirmation time
• Resource staking model instead of gas fees, eliminating transaction costs

Immutable Records for Ingredient Traceability

Blockchain technology creates an unalterable digital ledger with timestamped, encrypted data blocks linked chronologically. Each block holds validated transaction batches that create a permanent, tamper-proof record of all supply chain activities.

The information becomes immutable through cryptographic hashing techniques once a transaction is recorded—such as wheat delivery to a mill or flour arriving at a bakery. This creates a unique digital fingerprint, and any alterations would immediately signal tampering.

The system maintains complete data integrity by using one-way hashing stored with data in the public ledger. The signature won’t match when recalculated if data changes, which triggers notifications to blockchain owners.

Decentralized Data Access for All Actors

Blockchain works as a distributed ledger across multiple systems instead of residing in a single database. This decentralized data access structure lets all QuiVicino participants, such as farmers, millers, bakers, and consumers, access similar supply chain information.

This technology creates role-specific applications for each participant:

• Farmers record origin data
• Millers document processing details
• Bakers confirm ingredient sources
• Consumers track product experiences via QR codes.

This shared access builds trust by providing a single source of truth that was impossible in fragmented food supply chains before.

End consumers now have unprecedented visibility into bread production without depending on third-party verification or centralized authorities.

Consumer Interaction Through QR Code Integration

QR codes are changing the way consumers connect with their daily bread.

A quick smartphone scan now gives them access to supply chain details.

The QuiVicino project in Lombardy helps shoppers make better decisions about their purchases.

QR Code on Bread Packaging: What It Shows

Participating bakeries place unique QR codes on their bread packages. These codes work as digital gateways to complete product information.

Customers who scan these codes get instant traceability details about ingredients, wheat sources, processing locations, and certifications.

This digital network lets buyers trace their products right back to the source, providing Farm-to-Bakery Data and making sure they are really local and they help the industries and the people nearby.

Mobile Access to Farm-to-Bakery Data

A QR code scan takes consumers to a mobile app or website that shows their bread’s entire trip from farm to store. Recent studies show that about 32% of people scanned codes on product packaging in USA. Because this technology really proves product authenticity, ingredient sources, and ethical working conditions.

Product Authenticity and Trust via Blockchain Verification

Blockchain technology creates immutable records that no one can alter, which builds unprecedented consumer trust. At the same time this system removes the need for a central authority to verify information.

Research indicates that 79% of consumers value guaranteed authenticity when shopping. About 71% would pay more for brands that show full transparency and traceability.

Blockchain Technology: Scalability and Replicability of the QuiVicino Model

QuiVicino’s success shows how authentication technology works well in food supply chains. This project delivers real results you can measure, unlike other approaches that focused mainly on theory.

From 5 to 20+ Panificatori: Growth Metrics

The QuiVicino Project started with just 5 bakeries and grew faster to include more than 20 “panificatori” artisans across Lombardy. This growth shows how well the model adapts and scales in a short time. The project now tracks about 1300 quintals of soft wheat grown on 21 hectares of fields in Bergamo Italian province.

Potential Expansion Beyond Lombardy

QuiVicino’s model looks ready to roll out nationwide (replicability). Market projections support this expansion – blockchain in agriculture and food supply chains will grow from $0.6 billion in 2025 to $12.1 billion by 2035, with a 36.0% compound annual growth rate. Public blockchain systems like the EOS.IO protocol used in QuiVicino will lead the market with 39.2% of total revenue.

Authentication Technology Solutions for Other Food Chains

Authentication applications are emerging in food sectors of all types. Food supply chain control will make up 21.6% of blockchain market revenue, while automated record-keeping solutions will contribute 26.3%.

These food technologies bring key benefits:

• Better tracking of perishable foods
• Less food waste through clear supply chain visibility
• Easier compliance with safety certifications

QuiVicino and Authentication Technology in Food Supply Chain

QuiVicino project shows how authentication technology can reshape traditional bread production in Lombardy. This innovative project helps meet consumer’s need for supply chain transparency and supports local agriculture with verifiable supply chain documentation. Bread consumers can now trace ingredient origins, processing methods, and production practices by scanning simple QR codes.

The project’s success builds on EOS.IO blockchain architecture, which is 66,454 times more energy-efficient than Bitcoin. The platform processes nearly 4,000 transactions per second and works perfectly for food supply chain management. Blockchain records cannot be altered, which gives complete data integrity throughout the production process.

The model has proven its worth by growing from five bakeries to more than twenty participants. The project now tracks 1300 quintals of soft wheat across 21 hectares, showing real results instead of theoretical ideas. This represents a major advancement in both technology implementation and environmentally responsible agriculture.

QuiVicino’s framework can be easily replicated in Italy, where many products need to be safeguarded form the Italian sounding, or from whoever sell a local and typical product coming from a specific area (city, manufacturing district, village, province, etc.), without using the local ingredients and suppliers.

The acronyms DOP (Protected Designation of Origin) and DOC (Controlled Designation of Origin) are frequently used in the Italian food and wine sector: they are essential quality certifications for guaranteeing the authenticity and tradition of food and wine products.

Also many different acronyms identify foods produced in specific areas of the Italian territory, and certify compliance with certain standards following specific guidelines (called “disciplinari”, production specifications).

Also the EU’s quality policy aims to protect the names of specific products to promote their unique characteristics linked to their geographical origin and traditional skills and artisan skills.

Hence the need to protect the quality, safety, and authenticity of certain food products with increasingly precise authentication technologies.

The project brings together farmers, millers, bakers, technology providers, and consumers to create a model that other regions, not only in Italy, can follow for better product transparency.

This Lombardy-based initiative could become the standard for authentication in food supply chains worldwide.

The blend of traditional baking skills and advanced verification gives modern consumers what they want: complete knowledge about food origins and support for local production.

QuiVicino connects ancient breadmaking traditions with twenty-first century technology to create a more transparent, sustainable, and trustworthy food system for everyone.

Read more: Blockchain Traceability in Action: Ponti’s Winegar Farm-to-Bottle Transparency