How Blockchain contributes to the Best Risotto

When visiting the North of Italy, trying risotto is as much of a obligatory stop as climbing the Milan Cathedral or trying to spot George at Lake Como. But what makes a risotto so special? As is often the case with recipes, ingredients are key, and for the base, innumerable chefs and laymen swear on Carnaroli. Carnaroli is a rice variety native from the North of Italy that keeps its shape better than others during the slow cooking required for making risotto. Now, since this is not a cooking blog I will not get into too much detail about the recipes possible with this rice. Instead, I want to introduce a new venture that uses blockchain technology to produce and sell the best Carnaroli rice yet.

Meracinque is a venture started by five sisters from Italy in 2020. Their goal is to bring on their father's legacy, a farmer for more than 40 years, by moving beyond "simply making a product", but using technology to make the best product possible. Using the platform Trusty, Meracinque is able to track the product life cycle from grain to packaging with unparalleled transparency, making it much easier to show how sustainable their rice is. Since January 2021 their rice packages have a QR-Code, which the consumer can scan to get a series of information on the production chain, from the sowing of the grain to its packaging.

Meracinque is sustainable in a lot of aspects of its operations. The life cycle starts on the fields, where the "micronatural" tecnique is used, where particular microorganisms that keep the ecosystem of the rice fields healthy are actively used. Since their approach is "precision farming", they use soil mapping for optimal usage and apply field rotation. Finally, Meraceninque's sustainability also extends to its packaging, which is 100% compostable.

Check out their presentation video, which can certainly convey the passion for their product better then me!

What is the impact of this?

• The Trusty platform, used by Meracinque and other businesses, rooted in local agriculture and food production, empowers them to track the whole production and tell the story of their sustainable product in a better way.

What can you do?

• Buy some of thar delicious rice and support them! (and do yourself a favour and cook make some risotto, some recipes can be found on their instagram page)

• And of course, share this article and follow us on social media!