Ambrosus announces peer-to-peer blockchain marketplace

Blockchain: Ambrosus' tech sets out to revive trust between consumers and producers

The blockchain food ecosystem unveiled its new enterprise on Tuesday, August 16.

Along with allowing producers and buyers to enter agreements stating price and quality, the peer-to-peer marketplace will allow users to stipulate food quality.

The announcement comes just one month after Ambrosus launched and one month ahead of its token sale.

Reacting to market changes

Ambrosus Co-Founder and CEO, Angel Versetti, believes the introduction of the Ambrosus Marketplace will “change the dynamic of global food markets” with farmers and food producers “no longer subject to the control of big buyers and downward pressures on the price of their produce.”

“Today’s quality conscious consumers are better informed and often prepared to pay more for high quality food. However, food producers who do follow ethical, healthy techniques have limited means to prove the quality of their products and get those products in the hands of consumers, not to mention the low prices at which they are forced to sell them. This is where The Ambrosus p2p Marketplace steps in, enabling consumers to choose the high-quality food they are searching for, while creating opportunities for food producers to earn reflective revenues for their produce,”

The p2p marketplace enables buyers to browse a range of offers from food producers globally,” he added. “Run on smart contracts, the buyer can track the quality and conditions of food at every stage of production and throughout the transportation process. Using an escrow mechanism for payment, if the delivered food does not meet the expected quality, payments are instantly reimbursed. As a means to prevent food waste, Ambrosus has introduced the Dynamic Contract Rerouting system. This process means that contracts rejected due to insufficient quality can be cancelled and purchased by another buyer at a lower price. Coupled with reputation points for sellers, the market creates the opportunity for small food producers who consistently receive high points for the quality of their produce to in turn receive higher amounts of money.

“As The Marketplace is entirely open-source, additional versions can be created and adapted anywhere in the world by anyone looking to strengthen local commerce or create transnational marketplaces for quality food.” 

Ambrosus Co-Founder and CTO, Dr Stefan Meyer said: “In a transparent, secure, fully digital food supply chain, farmers can easily provide authenticated proof of the quality and origins of their produce. On the Ambrosus Marketplace, farmers whose products are of verifiably better-quality ingredients and stem from sustainable agricultural practices can use our platform to demonstrate the additional value of their produce.

“Furthermore, with instant settlement of payments and instant discovery of problems, lengthy disputes and costly recalls can become a thing of the past.”

A public demo of the p2p marketplace has been launched on the Ethereum testnet. It is available for participation, here. Users can create a new market or join an existing market here on the Kovan test network.

Ambrosus’ UN partnership

Founded in 2016 by Angel Versetti and Dr Stefan Meyer, Ambrosus is the world’s first publicly verifiable and community-driven system to assure the quality, safety, and origins of essential products, such as medicine, food and commodities.

It is an official partner in the United Nations 10YFP Sustainable Food Systems Programme.

The UN programme is responsible for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Coordinated by the Federal Department of Economic Affairs of Switzerland, the Programme brings together leading initiatives and partnerships, while leveraging resources towards priority activities such as the promotion of sustainability and the reduction of waste in the global food sector. 

Angel Versetti said: “We are honoured to be the first blockchain project to be selected as official partner to the United Nations 10YFP Programme. The Sustainable Development Goals is the largest development project in history, and the question of sustainability is one of the most pressing issues for the future of food. Ambrosus is driven by individuals who are dedicated leaders in their field, and this partnership further cements our promise to a safer, sustainable food ecosystem.” The Ambrosus token sale will take place from September 13, 2017 until October 12, 2017.