WICHITA, Kan. – Through a blockchain solution, Cargill and its Honeysuckle White brand of turkey have expanded the traceability of Thanksgiving turkeys to include 200,000 birds this year from more than 70 farms. Through a text message, or by entering an on-package code at honeysucklewhite.com, consumers can trace their turkey back to the family farm, access the farm’s location by state and county, view the family farm story, see photos from the farm and read a message from the farmer.

Last year’s pilot program included 60,000 traceable turkeys from four family farms. In 2018, one-third of Honeysuckle White turkeys will be traceable, an increase of 5 percent over last year. Approximately 3,500 retail stores in Denver, Nashville, Seattle and others across the Midwest will carry the traceable turkeys for Thanksgiving 2018. Also, online retailer amazon.com will have a limited quantity available.

In a 2017 Honeysuckle White survey, the company found 88 percent of consumers believe brands need to be transparent in their food production, and 80 percent of consumers agree that Thanksgiving turkeys should be raised by a family farmer.

“Honeysuckle White is committed to food transparency and we are excited to bring more consumers an inside look at the family farms where their turkeys are raised,” said Kassie Long, Honeysuckle White brand manager. "We launched this program as a pilot in 2017 and are expanding it this year to meet the increased consumer demand for farm to fork transparency. Now, more consumers can get to know the farmers that raised their turkeys and enjoy a family-farm raised turkey this holiday season.”

“Cargill is making meaningful investments in technologies like blockchain to digitalize our food and agricultural supply chains in ways that benefit the entire industry and help our customers,” said Debra Bauler, chief information officer, Cargill Protein and Salt. “The expanded transparency program with Honeysuckle White turkeys builds trust and increases transparency in the food supply chain, and gives customers greater confidence in the food they purchase and eat.”