Randeep Melhi wants to rethink the relationship between food consumers and producers. “Imagine having a cup of coffee in Tokyo and scanning a QR code to find out who grew the coffee beans,” he says. “Then imagine being able to tip the producer directly from your smartphone.”

Melhi’s vision of the future isn’t too far off. As chief commercial and chief operating officer of the blockchain technology company Emurgo — which has offices in five countries, including Japan — he’s well aware of blockchain’s potential to revolutionize food supply chains.

Emurgo’s blockchain-based traceability solution, launched last year, is being used by 500 coffee farmers in Indonesia. While the system doesn’t yet support direct tips to producers, its benefits include empowering farmers to bargain for higher prices for their coffee as they’re now able to prove what kind of beans they’re growing, and how.