Connecting Food enters into a strategic partnership with Valeur-Tech

(Boursier.com) — On the occasion of the support for Ukraine conference held at the Pierre Mendès France Conference Center on Tuesday, December 13, Connecting Food, a French startup specializing in traceability of agri-food, entered into a strategic partnership with Valeur- Tech, a company agtech solutions consultant, present on the Ukrainian market since 2018.

Purpose : strengthening food security through digital twinning (dual digital blockchain) to maintain the quality of the country’s harvest and maintain the balance of logistics and people in Europe to Africa… Two continents that are still very dependent on Ukraine’s cereal exports today disrupted by the war and the resulting customs deregulation.

France and Europe are in a position to provide an immediate and concrete response to the agricultural crisis that has rocked Ukraine and could threaten world food supplies.

DISTURBED CROPS IN WAR ZONES

Breadbasket of Europe since the 18th century, known for its soil which is among the most fertile in the world, Ukraine, caught in a protracted conflict, saw the scourge of hunger reappear in its history. The main world food player, Ukraine and its 41.5 million hectares of agricultural land export 40% of its production, including 74% of its wheat production. Every year, Ukraine competes with France for 4th place in world wheat exports.

Not content with providing 12% of world grain exports, Ukraine is also responsible for 15% of world barley exports and 16-18% of corn and rapeseed exports. It is also a leader in sunflower oil.

According to data from the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB), the war has forced farmers to cut back on wheat and corn kernels for the 2022 crop, in favor of cereals, bean sprouts and sunflowers. But through international trade, Europe and Africa, major importers of cereals, are under Russia’s geopolitical rule. Africa, through Egypt, is particularly vulnerable to Ukrainian grain export shocks. In turn, countries such as Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco and Nigeria were directly affected.

SIMPLE AND EFFICIENT TRACEABILITY FROM GRAIN TO FORK

The war also disrupted logistics flows, so far cut off from its strategic maritime access, Ukraine has only roads and rails in the west of the country to transport its agricultural products. In a geopolitical context that emphasizes load shedding, having real-time visibility remains key to ensuring food security.

A traditional system based on declarations proved to be very limited in providing reliable information on production conditions, harvest dates and product freshness. However, one technology has proven its effectiveness, both in terms of traceability and data integrity: the blockchain. This auditable, tamper-resistant and transferable information storage and transfer technology ensures total transparency on the quality of foodstuffs transported, across borders and at the subcontracting level.

Thus, France can count on one of the most dynamic blockchain ecosystems in Europe. The only downside: most of the solutions available to manufacturers are either staying at the proof-of-concept (POC) stage or haven’t been successfully upgraded. In contrast, Link Food – a supply chain management tool with traceability of agri-food as its backbone – uses an indirect profile. Voted the best European technology enhancement among 400 applications by accelerator EIT Digital in 2021, Connecting Food has the advantage of being present in international markets, having field-approved solutions and being able to deploy quickly in industrial contexts. .. .

ALLIANCE THAT SERVES UKRAINE’S EXPORT ENHANCEMENT

Wanting to provide real and immediate support to the Ukrainian economy, Connecting Food has decided to join forces with Valeur-Tech, a consulting firm specializing in data processing related to agriculture. Companies have the advantage of benefiting from in-depth knowledge of the local market.

The aim of the partnership is to audit Ukrainian farms, to centralize data facilitating the exchange and accessibility of information for farmersmarket operators and European and African countries.

COMPLIANCE WITH EUROPEAN REGULATIONS IN OPTIMAL FOOD SAFETY SERVICES

With the conflict in Ukraine, the country’s borders have also almost disappeared. However, the free movement of these Ukrainian products – especially food – is no longer subject to customs duties, which sometimes causes compliance problems with European regulations.

Pierre Poulain, Co-founder and CEO of Valeur-Tech “We believe that Connecting Food guarantees a traceability process that has been able, through its international use cases, to demonstrate the power of its solutions for industrial applications.”

MANUALS

Connecting Food has created and marketed technology solutions that track products and collect information from raw materials to final products, using digital twinning and blockchain. Used by major players in the cooperative and industrial world, the Connecting Food solution enhances agriculture and food data. Thanks to the “Digital Food Twins” product generation, every actor in the supply chain can ensure perfect traceability and digital quality audits from production to the final consumer.

Valeur-Tech is an independent Agtech consulting and solutions service. This activity is structured around three services: training, consulting, and creating solutions. The company has built international partnerships to find more suitable technologies. This partnership will allow Valeur-Tech to build consulting solutions or digital services in response to the demands and constraints of customers, cooperatives, traders, consulting organizations and growers.

Valeur-Tech has put together an ecosystem of transverse skills in the innovation management sector (strategy, management, workplace innovation management) combined with “business” skills specializing in the field crop, livestock and viticulture sectors. connect-food.com

With its blockchain solution, Connecting Food makes it possible to set optimal alert levels on production and distribution networks. What accelerates the response of professionals in the event of a health crisis and quickly isolates the problem pool. This partnership crystallized a unique moment to safeguard French interests and – furthermore – to lay the foundations for lasting European cooperation with Ukraine. Enough to finance the green corridors European authorities want while keeping Europe in balance and food security in Africa.

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