Blockchain-empowered unified services for streamlined traceability implementation in food supply chain: a demonstration in Australian seafood traceability

Traceability is a key requirement for compliance in food supply chains, ensuring transparency, safety, and product authenticity across all stages of production and distribution. Although advanced technologies have been introduced to support compliance efforts, blockchain stands out for its potential to provide secure, tamper-proof, and verifiable traceability. However, adoption of blockchain remains limited due to technical complexity, high implementation costs, and fragmented integration between supply chains. To address these challenges, this study proposes a unified blockchain-enabled services framework for the implementation of streamlined, standardized, and accessible traceability. The framework includes a network architecture, traceability-driven operational rules, a UML sequence diagram defining system interactions, and algorithms to record and verify data. Demonstrated through an Australian seafood traceability scenario, the framework was validated by deploying a prototype digital platform and smart contracts on the blockchain. The results show that the framework enables reliable traceability with minimal integration effort while supporting interoperability and data integrity. Although not required, the study highlights the potential role of regulatory bodies as service providers to strengthen compliance alignment. In general, this approach presents a scalable, cost-effective, and practical solution to improve traceability in supply chains through blockchain technology.