The fact evidently suggests that the world as a whole has been coping up with food distribution crisis. Due to inefficiency of food distribution systems, a significant amount of produced food goes waste. Deep insights into the problem delineate centralized distribution model as the major cause. Although food supply chains are becoming more global, yet we are following centralized distribution methods where the food is collected in one central location and then distributed to nearby cities or villages. Such a model works on a set of disorganized procedures, which entail lack of transparency and trust; and eventually authorize mediators and corporations with the power to allocate food. As a result several complications arise in a supply chain as a lack of visibility about actual demand and supply of products takes shape; this makes way for the void of mistrust between sellers and buyers.

To ensure proper distribution of food, we must focus on incorporating decentralized methods in this sector towards creating more mobile and localized markets that can be accessed by both consumers and producers.We need to distribute supply chain information so that all the stakeholders of any supply chain have access to same level of information creating an ecosystem with equal opportunity.This can be achieved by creating de-centralized marketplace applications.Not to mention if we can have access to real-time data on quality, location, documentation and other vital information about the products, it’d be a lot easier to elude supply chain malfunctions such as shipping errors, documentation errors, quality issues and delays.

The breakneck evolution in technology has endowed us with the power of Blockchain, a groundbreaking technology that has been reshaping businesses across diverse industries creating highly secure and impenetrable data records that are decentralized. There is no doubt that it is vestedwith immense capabilities in solving the food distribution problem faced all over the world.

StaTwig – a breakthrough concept (Blockchain powered by IOT)

StaTwig emerges as one of the most prominent entities in global startup ecosystem for its avant – garde concept that brings together Blockchain and IOT, two revolutionary technologies to metamorphose food distribution system all over the globe by preventing a horde of complexities and inefficiencies that occur in any supply chain.The firm presents before us aninnovative solution built on a platform that leverages blockchain data and integration of IOT sensorsto provide real-time, tamper-proof and end-to-end tracking of complete life cycle of the product as it moves along Cold chain (a temperature-controlled supply chain used for perishable products including food, vaccines etc.) . The solution is deployed as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) product and works on pay per shipment model. The subscription strategy is focused on creating maximum value for all the stakeholders of the supply chain.

The company is established in July 2016 and has started its operations from two offices; one in Hyderabad and another in Singapore. Within a short span of time, the firm has been able to build a strong network of partners in those verticals, which would retain high profits with the implementation of the proposed solution.

StaTwig is the brainchild of Sid Chakravarthy, a technology specialist and a radical entrepreneur filled with the passion for welfare of the society. Sid’s deep domain expertise and rich experience is rooted in his serving some of the corporate giants across United States of America. In a chat with The CEO Magazine, Sid Chakravarthy – Founder & Chief Executive Officer at StaTwig speaks about what guided his interests towards ideating this concept, “My role basically involved gathering information about the new and upcoming technologies and to identify how they can be utilized to create innovative products and solutions towards catering to the needs of diverse markets while bearing a strong impact on them.” After he came back to India, he travelled widely to gain an insight on the processes of different industries and got to know about a multitude of flaws in product supply chains that lead to enormous amount of wastage. Especially, the management of cold chains was faultierto his surprise. The wastage amounted to more than 30% in food products and nearby 60% in pharmaceutical products such as vaccine. The players in both these sectors usually incur loss of billions of dollars. Also, the lack of adequate supply leads to increasing the cost of the product for the end consumer, while reducing its safety and effectiveness.A detailed background research made it quite clear that the opacity in the processes is the root cause from where the rest of the flaws spring. Moreover, organizations have to conduct expensive audits, which depend upon traditional tools of tracking and provide a little bit of clarity on the picture.

The acuteness and depth of this global problem paved the way for conceptualization of StaTwig. The idea has already received a lot of traction in the market in terms of its unique capabilities and wide applicability. The firm has gained a massive recognition that promises its success in achieving what it envisions. “There was an immediate selection in T – hub, IIIT, Hyderabad – the largest startup incubator in India. We also got selected to startup accelerator program in Singapore; the idea caught attention of most of the renowned entities in pharmaceuticals and allied verticals. It was eyed by a number of investors”, shares Sid.

Booting up transformation

StaTwig has been working on three proposed projects lately. Initially, the firm is focusing on Cold chain management for vaccines. This sector of biopharmaceuticals loses all its usability if exposed to unsafe temperature ranges. Also, Cold chain operations are highly expensive for transportation of vaccines; they become overpriced and less accessible to people in the developing economies. StaTwig’s solution targets the concerned problems in a very effective way ensuring no wastage of vaccines as it provides complete real-time tracking into the location of the product, temperature variations it endured, along with all of the transactions associated with it throughout its journey along the supply chain.

The second project aims to foil the glitches in cold chain management for fish sale in India. This project is being undertaken in collaboration with University of California, Berkeley. This unique solution will be showcased to Bill Gates and Chandra Babu Naidu at the AgTech Summit going to be held in Vizag this year. The project involves tracking down of fish supplied from some of the coastal regions of Andhra Pradesh to all over India. The solution aims to empower rural entrepreneurs enabling them with market transparency and efficient supply chains. It assures host of benefits for local sellers as well as national buyers. With reduced risk of product failures, both can negotiate on pricing with confidence; can have an access to a lot of suppliers or buyers on the network as well as avoid additional transaction charges. The benefits also include zero maintenance costs. In addition to that, the solution is geared towards enabling growth for this sector as it opens doors for trade finance for its assured capabilities in absolute risk assessments and easy acquisition of customers.

The third project leverages same platform and is dedicated to help retailers and consumers get a clear picture of the food products and crops they are buying. The solution is developed for tracking pesticide levels on different crops. The system will bring transparency to all the stakeholders by creating blockchain data on the amount of the pesticides used in the crop. The clarity on the same would help players in gaining competitive advantages in different markets.

Success Mantra

Speaking of StaTwig’s unique selling proposition, Sid briefs, “Blockchain and IOT are very complex solutions. Our secret sauce lies in combining those two technologies innovatively as an offering that costs very less and reaps huge profits for the players; facilitating growth not only for a broad spectrum of industries but also for economies.”