Tech to Make the Seafood Supply Chain Visible with Jayson Berryhill

“You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” This is just one of the gems that Jayson Berryhill, co-founder and CEO of Wholechain, dropped in this episode of the podcast. As he says, it’s shocking how little we measure when it comes to how we use resources such as the ocean and what comes out of it.

The Ocean Impact Podcast · Tech to Make the Seafood Supply Chain Visible with Jayson Berryhill

Wholechain is a blockchain-based solution for enhancing traceability in supply chains, making visible the unseen. It’s capable of both producing and consuming data across the supply chain, breaking down not just the chain of custody but the entire chain of events in a standardised way. Not only can this impact ocean health, but climate health too. Enabling us to better manage critical resources like the ocean and the broader environment.

See below for show notes & relevant links!

JAySON - why don't you start by giving us a bit of a spiel about the solution you've developed and the challenges that you're ultimately trying to solve?

Yeah, so what we do is ultimately traceability. Traceability of raw material inputs, traceability of what becomes packaged goods. In the ocean space, that really begins with something that is harvested – you know from a farm or from a wild capture fishery – that then goes through multiple transformations in its life cycle all the way to a restaurant or store.

Our solution, it tracks that all along the way. So we break down traceability, not just in terms of a chain of custody, but a chain of events. So events meaning like shipping, receiving, a farm harvest, a transformation that happens within these supply chains, it can be down to a sensor reading. And there's quite a lot of information and all this is done in a standardised way according to the same standards organisation that is behind the barcode, called GS1.

So our system is like a client for producing that data in the supply chain and being able to consume that data across the supply chain.

And in terms of the way it impacts not just ocean health, but overall climate health even is that in general with regards to our environment, with regards to our world, and our use of resources – you cannot manage what you don't measure. And right now I would say it is astounding how little we measure when it comes to how we use resources or, you know, what comes out of the ocean right now.

Wholechain’s vision for what we do is being able to transform the food industry, not just our solution but I would say this overall movement of greater measurement that's happening, where we can better use our resources because we're better measuring from the moment something leaves the water all the way to when it's consumed. And hopefully more of it is consumed in that process versus just thrown away or wasted.

How has traceability been done to date? Or has it really not been done and needs to be embraced in order for it to happen at scale?

Evolution of supply chain Traceability:

Yeah so in general, I would say to date, there've been steps forward in an evolutionary process, just like so many other industries. There was actually a standard that predates the internet called EDI, which stands for electronic data interchange. And that is really a formatted way of expressing things like a purchase order or an invoice or you know other types of documents like that. But it also includes an advanced ship notice (ASN) that says, “here's what we're about to send you”. And you know, probably the shirt you're wearing and the furniture in your office there was probably all a part of an ASN at one point. You know, from one warehouse to another.

There's been other kinds of leaps in that process where – I would say probably about a decade ago – there started to be more and more brands that would say “look, we're using a solution provider, we're using X traceability system, and we want all of our suppliers to use X traceability system.” But of course that has a hole in it, because we're not just talking about the suppliers of that brand, but you're talking about tier-N of those suppliers. You know, the supplier’s suppliers and onward down a very long and complicated chain. And then people have individual needs, and so it's hard to get past those if there's just one solution provider.

The next step: Standarisation

Now I would say where we're at today – not just speaking of Wholechain, but just as an industry – is that we're really moving towards standardisation. And I think if you look across the spectrum of technologies, you'll see that when technologies become ubiquitous, they usually follow the path of standardisation. I came from the mobile industry, for example, and people don't realise that the mobile industry was probably more impacted by standards than it was the touchscreen standard. There was once a time when if you were on one mobile network and I was on a different one, I either couldn't send you a text message or it cost me a little extra you know? And then that kind of got worked out.

And there's other areas where standards have worked themselves out. Everything from filling up your car with a standardised gas spigot, to connecting to the internet with a standardised [wifi connection] regardless of what device you're using. These are all examples where technology standards have made life simple, with regard to technologies that ultimately reach ubiquity.

Well, in the world of traceability, those standards are GS1. And there's a specific standard that was originally developed for pharmaceuticals that is now being used in food and other things. And that's where we come in.

Wholechain and industry leaps:

Wholechain’s system is a way to produce and consume data using that standard. And what that means is, we don't see ourselves as the only solution that wins this game. There's going to be a bunch of different solutions out there that can produce this same standard of data, just like there's a bunch of different gas stations that can be used to fill up a Subaru. You know, you don't just have a Subaru branded gas station, you have a bunch of different ones!

And that's how you have an industry. Because they kind of all operate on a shared standard. And so that, as it becomes more and more available, makes it simpler for entire supply chains to then have different types of software that can all speak the same language. And that data can be shared across that entire supply chain.

And so that’s what we're seeing on the rise right now. And specifically in the ocean space, there is a group called the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST). And I'm actually on the board of the GDST – along with many others in retail, food service, and across seafood brands – but it's all about taking that standard and then making a framework for it that's specific. For things like, you know, addressing problems like illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU fishing) and other concerns with very specific key data elements.

And so again, it's in that case about taking a standard and then saying to software companies like us: hey, compete on better service, better price, better quality in terms of your user interface and everything else. Compete on that level, but you're ultimately going to be commoditised when it comes to this standard because we want this to be for everybody, the entire industry.

It comes back to “you can’t manage what you don’t measure” – the only way to properly measure is to have it be really ubiquitous [across the industry].