e. The use of blockchain technology to improve the food supply chain

The purpose of the article is to show how to use relatively new and very innovative Blockchain technology to improve the food supply chain. In countries such as the United States or Thailand is starting to be an indispensable element in the agri-food sector. At the outset, it should be said what the Blockchain technology is, the use of which is becoming very broad in many sectors of the economy, including in the area of monetary policy of the state. It is used when creating virtual money, i.e. cryptocurrencies, which, despite the controversy they arouse, as well as the world of virtual finance in the COVID-19 era, begin to play a significant role. Blockchain (BCT) in the case of the food supply chain, despite the fact that it is a relatively new digital technology, may revolutionize its functioning. This technology is designed to provide the possibility of storing information in a database of transactions and products, which is decentralized and distributed and not susceptible to changes and manipulations. BCT believes it can play a positive role in ensuring food safety and quality. The main benefit of using this technology is the increased transparency of food supply chains. BCT makes it possible to increase the efficiency of tracking systems and identification of agri-food products in the supply chain. This means that thanks to BTC, it is possible to reduce the number of cases of food adulteration and the unauthorized use of food quality certificates. Nevertheless, BCT, due to the fact that it is a new technology, is not fully developed, i.e. the possibility of scaling BCT may turn out to be ineffective in more extensive and complex supply chains including multi-component products. In addition, it should be remembered that this technology is associated with barriers of a social, economic, legal and financial nature, which may adversely affect the further use of BCT in food supply chains. Despite the growing interest of agri-food sector enterprises in using BCT, its implementation in food supply chains may progress slowly