Brewing a brighter future for farmers through responsible sourcing
.jpeg)
Results
Farmers registered
Purchased barley, rice, & corn
Provinces impacted
Big Picture
Ecuador has demonstrated remarkable resilience in the face of the pandemic, achieving a swift and efficient vaccination campaign and encouraging brands to revive the economy through local sourcing. Cervecería Nacional took the lead in responsible sourcing by launching the Siembra por Contrato (Sow by Contract) program, which aims to propel Ecuador's economic recovery by generating 20,000 direct and 60,000 indirect jobs in its area of influence.
Through the Siembra por Contrato program, Cervecería Nacional aspired to develop a beer brand that exclusively utilized 100% natural ingredients sourced from Ecuadorian farmers. This led to the creation of Nuestra Siembra, a sustainable beer brand that supports the livelihood of local barley, rice, and corn farmers while also promoting their culture. To ensure transparency and traceability of Nuestra Siembra at the farmer level, Cervecería Nacional turned to BanQu, a reliable, blockchain-based data capture platform.
Problem
Cervecería Nacional created Nuestra Siembra, a sustainable beer brand, to enhance the quality of life of smallholder farmers and positively impact Ecuador. To provide complete transparency of the beer brand for stakeholders, Cervecería Nacional needed granular data at the farm level to prove responsible sourcing. Doing so would qualify them for a tax incentive from the Ecuadorian Government. Additionally, Cervecería Nacional aimed to offer a unique product experience by including a scannable QR code on each bottle for customers to view local sourcing metrics, also known as a Digital Product Passport. To make this vision of Nuestra Siembra a reality, a highly dependable data capture tool was needed to gather detailed information from seed to bottle.
Enter BanQu
.jpeg)
Solution
Sowing a Better Ecuador through Traceability and Transparency
Cervecería Nacional leveraged BanQu’s platform and partnership to ensure full traceability and transparency of Nuestra Siembra. BanQu launched its traceability project with Cervecería Nacional in June 2021, with BanQu’s implementation team traveling to Ecuador to connect with farmers, aggregators, and the brewery on the ground. Since then, the project has impacted 11 provinces and 684 barley, rice, and corn farmers. The project’s reach and impact continue expanding with ongoing assistance from BanQu’s global support team.
BanQu's cutting-edge blockchain platform captures comprehensive and verifiable data at the farm level, including seed inputs, machinery rentals, farmer demographics, geo-located transactions, and barley transformations. Through BanQu’s patented technology, farmers receive SMS confirmations of crop quantity, quality, and payment, providing farmers with digital records to enhance economic identity and forecasting capabilities. Commenting on the program, Sandra Canizares, Corporate Brand & Sustainability Manager at Anheuser-Busch InBev, said, "BanQu allows farmers to have a backup of their business with us. Moreover, they can verify that the payment is fair and the price is objectively set according to the quality of their barley, rice, or corn."
Furthermore, BanQu boosts the transparency of Nuestra Siembra by creating a Digital Product Passport in the form of a QR code label on each bottle. This allows customers to make informed purchases by easily accessing local sourcing metrics such as the number of provinces and farmers impacted, kilos transacted, and ingredients included. Cervecería Nacional, powered by BanQu, has created a transparent value chain to prove responsibly sourced beer for a future with more cheers in Ecuador.
Benefits:
- Complete visibility and traceability down to the farm level.
- Verified smallholder farmer payments and crop quantity and quality.
- Real-time, geo-located data for accurate internal and external reporting.
- Enhanced transparency to consumers through a Digital Product Passport QR code label.
- Proof of local sourcing to qualify for a tax incentive from the Ecuadorian Government.
"Our alliance with BanQu reaffirms our commitment to developing and revitalizing Ecuadorian agriculture, offering equitable opportunities. The use of BanQu helps us digitize our farmers. With this information and traceability, we aim to promote the purpose of Siembra por Contrato, which is reflected through our beer brand, Nuestra Siembra. This brand is the first Ecuadorian beer brand made with Ecuadorian ingredients, and BanQu allows us to bring the purpose to life in our products through QR codes that all our packaging has. With these codes, consumers can learn more about the Siembra por Contrato social program and our farmers."
Corporate Brand & Sustainability Manager
Sandra Canizares
“BanQu has greatly complemented our experience in the company, which is characterized by constant change. While we have a long-term objective, we always adjust our process. Few companies adapt to these changes, but BanQu has done an excellent job. For example, this year’s inclusion of machinery rental has allowed us to see our impact on farmers. All this information has enabled us to adapt, make changes, and connect the work in the field with our objective. It is crucial to have visibility into the actions of our farmers, their locations, transactions, growth, and the impact we are making, not only through contracts but beyond that. This added value is possible with Cervecería Nacional and BanQu partnership.”
Agricultural Development Manager
Adriano Valarezo