Herbs and spices are the foundation of flavor. Unleash your creativity with a colorful palette of flavors and aromas, endlessly combinable. Create a striking effect in taste and signature.
From farm to plate
29-03-2025
1 minuut
Fully transparent nutmeg chain gives farmers a voice.
The origin and quality of Verstegen's nutmeg can be perfectly traced thanks to blockchain technology
When it comes to harvesting and cultivating spices, we rely on the generations of knowledge and expertise of our partners in the countries where they originate. And when it comes to demonstrating how fairly and sustainably our partners operate there, we're eager to utilize the latest innovations. We've made the entire journey of our nutmeg transparent, from farm to fork, using blockchain technology.
The more you know, the more honestly you can work. At Verstegen, we want to amplify the voice of our farmers, and that's why we're developing a way, in collaboration with Fairfood, to track exactly when and where our farmers harvest their nutmeg. The ultimate goal? To achieve a fair income for our farmers. Traceability strengthens the supply chain and helps build strong, long-term trade relationships.
Visibility and certainty
Fair food is a non-profit organization working on product traceability to ensure farmers receive a fair wage. Together with our partners in Indonesia, we've established a smart supply chain that allows us to process the highest-quality, trusted nutmeg at our Rotterdam mill. Our farmers contribute by recording when and where they deliver their nutmeg to the collectors.
Because their share in the chain is so visible, we have more certainty about the origin and quality of our products and can better value and reward our farmers: on top of the market price, we pay a data premium and an additional amount for high quality.
We can also help resolve bottlenecks in the supply chain and provide our customers with insight into every step of the entire chain. Customers can see exactly how, where, when, and by whom their nutmeg was grown, harvested, transported, ground, and packaged.
"The herbs are not only perfectly flavorful, but their story also aligns perfectly in terms of purity and sustainability. That's a great match with restaurant Smink." – Jan Smink, owner and chef of restaurant Smink* in Wolvega.
The best nutmeg, the best price
At Verstegen, we strive to operate honestly and transparently, offering our customers the best quality with the best story behind it. A simple scan of the QR code on the packaging allows them to see which farmer grew the nutmeg and how it was processed.
In the case of nutmeg, blockchain works like the stamps in your passport. When our nutmeg begins its journey to the Netherlands, it's recorded by the farmer. Each subsequent stage of the journey, from buyer to all transporters in our supply chain, is stamped with a unique code in the passport. Because everyone can see the codes, it's impossible to alter a stamp unnoticed or accidentally swap it. This way, we know exactly which journey the product has made and which passionate partners and professionals, from farm to fork, have contributed to the finest nutmeg. In this way, blockchain helps give our farmers a voice and reward them for the quality and sustainability of their product.
“Transparency in the chain strengthens the position of our farmers.”
The benefits of transparency
Thanks to blockchain, we know how the transport takes place and when the consignments of nutmeg arrive at our facility in Rotterdam. This allows us to work more efficiently and fairly. Transparency strengthens the position of farmers in the supply chain, and all partners have greater insight into the origins of our nutmeg, increasing mutual trust and respect between all parties in our supply chain.
Because much of our nutmeg comes from hard-to-reach and poorly connected locations, farmers can also fill out a card with all the information and include it with their delivery. We scan it when we receive their nutmeg. We develop a personalized card and code for each farmer. This card allows farmers to record their transactions in the system, confirming that the agreed-upon price was actually paid. Thanks to this smart approach, farmers are still part of the blockchain, even if they don't have a smartphone or internet access.