SOLUTION DIVING DEEPER - WHAT MAKES A GOOD BLOCKCHAIN? While blockchain technology is appealing from the headline perspective, there is much to unpack regarding exactly how this innovation can solve problems faced by the coffee industry— including both pre-existing certification challenges and supply chain visitation hurdles wrought by COVID-19. Contrary to popular belief, there is no one “blockchain”, but many blockchains. Some blockchains are purpose-built (the vast majority of these are built for the finance sector), but most are general-purpose. This reality begs several questions. First, what makes a good blockchain solution for the purpose of coffee supply chains broadly, and for targeting smallholder farmer inclusion and transparency more specifically? And second, what might a blockchain implementation look like in practice? In relation to our first question, it’s less about “good” or “bad” solutions, and more more about understanding “what’s right for me”. For example, some blockchains may be incredibly performant, capable of executing tens of thousands of transactions per second, but also prohibitively expensive. By the same token, some blockchains may be excellent for applications like banking, but lack features required for true supply chain traceability in a coffee- industry environment. In the case of bringing transparency and verifiability to claims around ethical coffee production and smallholder farmer inclusion, what’s most important for a blockchain-powered solution? We would identify four qualities that make a good coffee blockchain. 11