A Blockchain and IoT-Enabled Framework for Ethical and Secure Coffee Supply Chains

John Byrd, Kritagya Upadhyay (), Samir Poudel, Himanshu Sharma and Yi Gu
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John Byrd: Department of Computer Science, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132, USA
Kritagya Upadhyay: Department of Computer Science, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132, USA
Samir Poudel: Computational and Data Science, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132, USA
Himanshu Sharma: Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203, USA
Yi Gu: Department of Computer Science, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132, USA

Future Internet, 2025, vol. 17, issue 8, 1-22

Abstract: The global coffee supply chain is a complex multi-stakeholder ecosystem plagued by fragmented records, unverifiable origin claims, and limited real-time visibility. These limitations pose risks to ethical sourcing, product quality, and consumer trust. To address these issues, this paper proposes a blockchain and IoT-enabled framework for secure and transparent coffee supply chain management. The system integrates simulated IoT sensor data such as Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) identity tags, Global Positioning System (GPS) logs, weight measurements, environmental readings, and mobile validations with Ethereum smart contracts to establish traceability and automate supply chain logic. A Solidity-based Ethereum smart contract is developed and deployed on the Sepolia testnet to register users and log batches and to handle ownership transfers. The Internet of Things (IoT) data stream is simulated using structured datasets to mimic real-world device behavior, ensuring that the system is tested under realistic conditions. Our performance evaluation on 1000 transactions shows that the model incurs low transaction costs and demonstrates predictable efficiency behavior of the smart contract in decentralized conditions. Over 95% of the 1000 simulated transactions incurred a gas fee of less than ETH 0.001. The proposed architecture is also scalable and modular, providing a foundation for future deployment with live IoT integrations and off-chain data storage. Overall, the results highlight the system’s ability to improve transparency and auditability, automate enforcement, and enhance consumer confidence in the origin and handling of coffee products.

Keywords: coffee supply chain; blockchain; Internet of Things (IoT); smart contracts; traceability; ethereum; ethical sourcing; decentralized ledger (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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