- New Hedera-Based Platform Targets Cocoa Traceability, Compliance and Product Authentication
The Hashgraph Group and science and technology company Merck are piloting a cocoa traceability solution with implementation support from PwC Germany, combining physical product authentication with blockchain-based records in an effort to strengthen transparency across increasingly complex cocoa supply chains.
This system is designed to track origin, authenticity, quality and compliance information from production through processing and eventually to the consumer. Its development comes as cocoa companies face growing pressure to demonstrate where commodities originate and whether production complies with emerging environmental and supply-chain requirements.
The solution combines The Hashgraph Group’s TrackTrace Digital Product Passport platform with Merck’s M-Trust™ physical authentication technology, while PwC Germany provides consulting, process-design and implementation support.
TrackTrace records supply-chain, origin, quality and compliance data using the Hedera distributed ledger, while M-Trust™ seeks to verify that the physical product or packaging being scanned corresponds to its digital record.
PwC Germany’s role is intended to bridge the gap between the technology and the operating processes businesses require to deploy it at scale.
The initiative targets one of the cocoa industry’s most persistent problems: fragmented information across long and often indirect supply chains.
Cocoa typically moves through multiple farmers, aggregators, traders, processors and manufacturers before reaching a finished consumer product, making it difficult to establish an uninterrupted chain of verified information.
A digital system that links the physical commodity with an auditable digital identity could potentially make it easier for companies to demonstrate provenance and investigate discrepancies.
The companies say the platform is also intended to support preparation for the European Union Deforestation Regulation and the broader shift towards Digital Product Passports under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation. By connecting product identity with origin, chain-of-custody information, due-diligence documentation and quality controls, the system is designed to help companies assemble evidence relevant to whether cocoa was legally produced and associated with verifiable production areas.
The technology itself, however, does not automatically establish regulatory compliance; its usefulness will ultimately depend on the accuracy, completeness and credibility of the information entered into the system.
That distinction is important because blockchain can protect records against subsequent alteration without guaranteeing that the original data was correct. Traceability therefore depends on both digital infrastructure and reliable verification at the point where physical cocoa enters the recorded supply chain.
Merck’s authentication layer is intended to address part of that challenge by linking secure physical markers and scanning technology with the corresponding digital record.
Under the model, each cocoa batch or product unit is assigned a digital twin and an individual passport that can be enriched at different stages of the supply chain. Information can include product identity, origin, quality records, certificates, due-diligence documents and authentication events recorded during handovers or inspections.
Authorised participants can then access an auditable history, while selected information may also be made available to consumers through QR codes or other scan-based interfaces.
For processors and manufacturers, the commercial value could extend beyond regulatory reporting. More integrated records may reduce manual reconciliation between suppliers, improve audit preparation and allow companies to identify affected batches more quickly during food-safety or quality incidents. In a recall, for example, a more precise chain of custody could potentially help companies isolate affected products rather than relying on broader and more costly interventions.
Stefan Deiss, Chief Executive and Co-Founder of The Hashgraph Group, said the project was intended to move cocoa traceability beyond fragmented documentation and self-declared information.
He said integrating TrackTrace with Merck’s authentication technology and PwC’s process expertise could connect physical products with trusted digital records and provide enterprises with a stronger foundation for compliance, quality assurance and consumer confidence. The wider architecture is not limited to cocoa and is being positioned for other industries where provenance and authenticity carry significant regulatory or commercial value.
Thomas Endress, Executive Director and Head of M-Trust at Merck, said digital traceability delivers its full value only when digital records can be connected with physical proof. M-Trust™ is intended to verify that the item or packaging presented for scanning is genuine, after which the authentication event can become part of the product’s recorded digital history. That linkage seeks to reduce the risk that an accurate digital record becomes detached from the physical commodity it is supposed to represent.
Husen Kapasi, Enterprise Blockchain Lead at PwC Germany, said the approach could also change how businesses view compliance by connecting regulatory obligations with operational and customer value.
PwC Germany is supporting organisations in mapping supply chains, defining workflows and translating operational requirements into technology use cases. The consulting element reflects a broader challenge in enterprise traceability: technology can fail to deliver if businesses have not established clear responsibilities, controls, onboarding processes and data-governance rules.
Scalability will therefore depend as much on organisational readiness as on technical performance. Expanding the system across large cocoa networks would require farmers, cooperatives, traders, processors and manufacturers to capture information consistently, while businesses would need agreed standards governing who can enter, verify, amend and access particular records. Training, partner onboarding, data quality and change management could ultimately prove as important as the distributed-ledger infrastructure itself.
The companies say the same architecture could eventually be applied to pharmaceuticals, luxury goods, electronics, food products and industrial components where authenticity, provenance and compliance are critical.
Cocoa nevertheless provides a particularly demanding test because of the scale of smallholder production and the number of intermediaries typically involved before beans reach global manufacturers. If the pilot can demonstrate that physical authentication, digital product passports and enterprise workflows operate reliably across such a fragmented value chain, the model could have relevance far beyond chocolate.
The larger test will be whether the platform can convert traceability from a compliance exercise into an operational asset for businesses and producers. A credible system should not merely generate more data; it should reduce uncertainty over origin, improve the speed of verification, strengthen quality control and make supply-chain risks easier to identify and manage.
For the cocoa industry, where regulatory scrutiny and demands for proof of provenance are intensifying, the value of the technology will ultimately be measured by the quality of the evidence it can produce from farm to finished product.
