Smartrac, Citizens Reserve partner to improve supply chain using blockchain

Smartrac, an Amsterdam-based Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) tag manufacturer, has entered into a partnership with Citizens Reserve, a California-based tech startup, Forbes reported.

Under the partnership, Smartrac will use Citizens Reserve’s blockchain-based supply chain solution, SUKU, announced last September.

CTO Dinesh Dhamija explained that combining Smartrac’s digital enablement capabilities with Citizen’s Reserves’ SUKU will “provide a unique identity for each physical product with a transparent and accessible supply chain solution."

Citizens Reserve is backed by a team of blockchain veterans led by Deloitte’s Former Global Blockchain Lead Eric Piscini.

“RFID tags are critical when you think about supply chain and what we do, we do supply chain on blockchain, and when you need to track an item using the supply chain, whether it's components or it's a final product, you need RFID tags, and the partnership is really for us to be able to provide a complete solution to our clients,” Piscini explained.

While Smartrac will leverage Citizens Reserve’s SUKU platform, the latter will benefit from Smartrac's technology, contacts and industries.

The companies will initially focus on end-to-end traceability of meat. Piscini said that the focus on the meat industry is their short-term strategy, adding “a long-term strategy which is pretty much every large industry that they [Smartrac] cover today."

Citizens Reserve expects to complete the meat industry project by the end of March, which is expected to be followed by a full meat industry launch.