01/26/2024

ECOM & BanQu Partnership Launch

As a leading origin integrated commodities group, ECOM recognises that we have a fundamental role to play in ensuring a responsible and sustainable supply-chain that improves the livelihoods of our farmers, as well as the environment and communities within which we operate.

As we celebrate our 175th anniversary, and look to the future, ECOM is delighted to announce our partnership with BanQu, a leading supply chain traceability platform that provides end-to-end auditable and verifiable data collection and reporting.

Together we will continue to integrate our origin value chain, track our product journey from farm to customer, and improve accessibility for our farmers and suppliers in remote locations, linking our ambitious ESG goals at every level of our company.

Alain Poncelet, ECOM’s CEO, highlights that “for us at ECOM, true sustainability starts with empowering the many farmers we work with and this is why a partnership with BanQu was a perfect fit. The ability to integrate ESG and chain of custody data across our supply chain is a game-changer. It allows us to track our commodity journey from farm to customer - with real-time information to drive our business growth, ensure sourcing compliance and most importantly, support a sustainable farming future. Looking to our future, some data, such as scope 3 carbon emissions, is notoriously hard to record, and we are excited for the opportunities that BanQu provides as we continue to work with our stakeholders to improve our climate footprint."

BanQu utilises non-crypto blockchain and patented technology, and has advanced traceability and supply chain software that has helped brands across the world to track their products and create meaningful sustainable impact. With real-time, verifiable data down to the source, BanQu will work with ECOM farmers and suppliers to improve our source-level visibility, track our progress towards sustainable goals, and achieve audit-proof compliance. Importantly for our origins, BanQu was created for remote farms, and is therefore able to work in rural farming communities on simple farmer phones with SIM cards.

“From day one the entire ECOM team has had a farmer first approach. No matter who you talk to at ECOM, they care about farmers, while not losing sight of climate change, supply chain transformation and compliance. This could not be a better partnership for BanQu as that is our DNA. At BanQu we believe that purpose and profit can be delivered together because we owe it to the generations to come. Today we are one big step forward in that shared vision with ECOM as a true strategic partner.” - Ashish Gadnis, BanQu CEO and CoFounder.

Although our priority focus is to support our clients, farmers and suppliers with upcoming EU Deforestation readiness and future EU Digital Product Passport, the scope is extensive. Together with innovations throughout our business, and a scalable data lake platform, we will be able to unlock a universal approach to geolocation capture, agronomy and crop data and farmer communication, training and support.  With this scalable technology in our operations, we will continue to increase value to our customers, building on our respected SMS Integrity brand and future-proofing our business.