Animal traceability

What is the origin of your steak tartar? What process has your dish gone through?

This technology is part of the European Cattlechain project and aims to bridge the digital divide between farmers and consumers. At LABe Digital Gastronomy Lab, the laboratory for innovation and experimentation in digital transformation, we have collaborated in the testing some QR codes for animal traceability in LABe Restaurant‘s “Technology Table”.

In a context in which consumers are demanding products that guarantee traceability, animal welfare, and the sustainability of agricultural activities; and realized that there were no solutions on the market to help farmers control and monitor their farms, Digitanimal’s technology was born, as part of the European Green Pact “From Farm to Fork” and the Cattlechain project, an initiative financed by the European Commission with the aim of digitally transforming the livestock sector.

The development of this study at LABe Restaurant follows the criteria of the Sensory area of BCC Innovation and is mainly based on comparing the response and perception of diners in terms of animal traceability. In other words, when the entire chain of the animal is known from birth to the table. At the end of the meal, we asked for feedback on the experience in order to obtain information for the research.

In a past edition of our Digital Gastronomy Talks on how Blockchain technologies are defining the future of traceability, Carlos Callejero from Digitanimal discussed how these technologies help us to know more about the way in which extensive livestock animals are raised because there is a need to control them, optimizing productivity and reducing search times, losses or even diseases. By digitising the recording of food value chains and with IoT (Internet of Things) and Artificial Intelligence devices, abnormalities in animals can be detected and farmers can be alerted early.

This transparency and traceability of the animal is achieved with intelligent scales and geolocation collars, which collect their activity, surface temperature, and geopositioning coordinates. Thanks to all this data and the group-moving nature of these animals, herds can be characterised, becoming clear indicators of animal welfare and health.