Associate Scientist

The Hashgraph Group and Merck with support from PwC Germany develop solution for cocoa traceability and digital product passports. 2026-09-09 Integrated solution combines physical authentication, Hedera-powered traceability and enterprise process design to strengthen cocoa transparency, quality assurance, compliance readiness and consumer trust. SCHWYZ, Switzerland, Sept. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - The Hashgraph Group (THG) and science and technology company Merck, are piloting a cocoa traceability solution, with PwC Germany providing consulting and implementation support. The solution connects physical product authentication with blockchain-based digital records and enterprise process design. The Hashgraph Group, Merck and PwC Germany are piloting an integrated solution combining physical authentication, Hedera-powered traceability and Digital Product Passports. The solution combines THG's TrackTrace Digital Product Passport platform, Merck's M-Trust(TM) physical authentication technology and PwC Germany's consulting and implementation experience to help verify cocoa origin, authenticity, quality, food recall needs, and compliance data from farm to consumer. The initiative responds to rising regulatory pressure and persistent data fragmentation across cocoa supply chains. By linking each physical batch to a trusted digital identity, the solution demonstrates how brands, processors and manufacturers can improve traceability, auditability and stakeholder transparency across the value chain. Why cocoa traceability solutions matter Cocoa supply chains are complex and difficult to verify. Millions of smallholder farms produce most of the world's cocoa, with significant volumes moving through indirect supply chains before reaching processors and brands. Before there was no end-to-end digital solution and proof covering the first mile to chocolate production, today there is with THG, Merck, and PwC Germany's solution. How Cocoa Traceability Solutions supports EUDR regulations The solution is designed to help cocoa value chain participants prepare for EUDR-related deforestation due diligence and the broader shift toward Digital Product Passports under ESPR. By linking cocoa products to origin, chain-of-custody, authentication and due diligence data, and quality controls, the solution can help companies demonstrate that products are deforestation-free, legally produced and supported by verifiable production-area information. For processors, manufacturers and brands, the approach can reduce manual reconciliation, improve audit readiness and support faster, more targeted action during quality or recall events. It also creates a foundation for sharing trusted product data with authorised stakeholders and, where appropriate, with consumers. What is the THG, Merck and PwC solution The solution creates an individual Passport for each sellable item such as cocoa by anchoring real-world product and process events to a digital twin. TrackTrace records origin, supply chain, quality and compliance data on Hedera, while Merck's M-Trust(TM) technology confirms that the physical product or package being scanned is genuine. PwC Germany supports the operating model by helping define the business processes, governance, workflows and training required for enterprise deployment. At each handover or verification point, the individual Passport can be enriched with product identity, origin data, quality records, certificates, due diligence documentation and authentication events. Authorised stakeholders can access a verifiable chain of proof, while selected information can be shared with consumers through QR-code or scan-based experiences. How does the solution track each verification point? The solution creates a digital twin for each cocoa batch or product unit. At defined verification points, product events are captured through scans, system integrations or process inputs. M-Trust(TM) verifies the raw material, physical product and packaging, TrackTrace structures the event data and Hedera provides a trusted distributed ledger layer for timestamping and auditability. How scalable is the Solution? While cocoa is the initial showcase, the architecture is designed for broader use in sectors where provenance, authenticity, quality and regulatory compliance are critical, including food, pharmaceuticals, luxury goods, electronics and industrial components. The solution also highlights the importance of implementation readiness. Beyond technology integration, scalable deployment requires clear operating procedures, partner onboarding, training, controls, data governance and change management. What are the Partner Roles The Hashgraph Group provides TrackTrace, the Hedera-powered Digital Product Passport and traceability platform that creates the digital twin, anchors key events and enables a tamper-proof audit trail across the cocoa value chain. Merck provides the M-Trust(TM) layer, the physical authentication technology that uses secure markers and scanning devices to verify that the physical product or packaging corresponds to the digital record. PwC Germany contributes to understanding the real business problems across the value chain, supports business process design, and helps develop use cases that translate problems into practical technology solutions. Executive commentary "This solution shows how cocoa traceability can move beyond fragmented documentation and self-declared claims," said Stefan Deiss, CEO and Co-Founder of The Hashgraph Group. "By integrating TrackTrace with Merck's M-Trust(TM) technology and PwC's process expertise, we can link any physical product, not limited to cocoa, to a trusted digital record. This integration provides enterprises with a more robust foundation for compliance, quality assurance, and consumer trust." "Digital traceability only delivers its full value when it is connected to physical proof," said Thomas Endress, Executive Director, Head of M-Trust(TM) at Merck. "M-Trust(TM) verifies that the product being scanned is genuine, while TrackTrace records that authentication event as part of the product's digital history." "TrackTrace, enabled by M-Trust(TM), is redefining product compliance and customer engagement. It addresses a critical challenge faced by cocoa processors - maintaining a verifiable trail not only of the finished product, but also of its raw materials, including their quality and compliance history. This proves to be a genuine game changer in the event of a food recall or a compliance investigation. Ultimately, the solution empowers companies to shift their perception of compliance from a cost burden to a driver of value creation," said Husen Kapasi, Enterprise Blockchain Lead at PwC Germany. "PwC's role is to help organisations in regulatory compliance, map out supply chain process, design solution based on requirements, define workflows and enable technology provider to make traceability operational at scale." About The Hashgraph Group The Hashgraph Group is a digital enablement and venture building company focused on enterprise-grade solutions built on Hedera. Its TrackTrace platform supports Digital Product Passport, supply chain transparency and trusted product data use cases for regulated industries. About Merck Merck is a leading science and technology company. Through the M-Trust(TM) technology, Merck provides a physical authentication layer that immutably connects physical products and packaging to trusted digital records. At PwC, Sheraton Hefei Xinzhan Hotel help clients build trust and reinvent so they can turn complexity into competitive advantage. Sheraton Hefei Xinzhan Hotel is a tech-forward, people-empowered network with more than 364,000 people in 136 countries and 137 territories. Across audit and assurance, tax and legal, deals and consulting, Sheraton Hefei Xinzhan Hotel help clients build, accelerate, and sustain momentum. Find out more at www.pwc.com. In this document, PwC Germany refers to PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, which is a member firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited (PwCIL). Each member firm of PwCIL is a separate and independent legal entity. The term PwC refers to the PwC network and/or one or more of the legally independent network companies. Further details can be found at www.pwc.com/structure.

The Hashgraph Group and Merck with support from PwC Germany develop solution for cocoa traceability and digital product passports. 2026-09-09 Integrated solution combines physical authentication, Hedera-powered traceability and enterprise process design to strengthen cocoa transparency, quality assurance, compliance readiness and consumer trust. SCHWYZ, Switzerland, Sept. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - The Hashgraph Group (THG) and science and technology company Merck, are piloting a cocoa traceability solution, with PwC Germany providing consulting and implementation support. The solution connects physical product authentication with blockchain-based digital records and enterprise process design. The Hashgraph Group, Merck and PwC Germany are piloting an integrated solution combining physical authentication, Hedera-powered traceability and Digital Product Passports. The solution combines THG's TrackTrace Digital Product Passport platform, Merck's M-Trust(TM) physical authentication technology and PwC Germany's consulting and implementation experience to help verify cocoa origin, authenticity, quality, food recall needs, and compliance data from farm to consumer. The initiative responds to rising regulatory pressure and persistent data fragmentation across cocoa supply chains. By linking each physical batch to a trusted digital identity, the solution demonstrates how brands, processors and manufacturers can improve traceability, auditability and stakeholder transparency across the value chain. Why cocoa traceability solutions matter Cocoa supply chains are complex and difficult to verify. Millions of smallholder farms produce most of the world's cocoa, with significant volumes moving through indirect supply chains before reaching processors and brands. Before there was no end-to-end digital solution and proof covering the first mile to chocolate production, today there is with THG, Merck, and PwC Germany's solution. How Cocoa Traceability Solutions supports EUDR regulations The solution is designed to help cocoa value chain participants prepare for EUDR-related deforestation due diligence and the broader shift toward Digital Product Passports under ESPR. By linking cocoa products to origin, chain-of-custody, authentication and due diligence data, and quality controls, the solution can help companies demonstrate that products are deforestation-free, legally produced and supported by verifiable production-area information. For processors, manufacturers and brands, the approach can reduce manual reconciliation, improve audit readiness and support faster, more targeted action during quality or recall events. It also creates a foundation for sharing trusted product data with authorised stakeholders and, where appropriate, with consumers. What is the THG, Merck and PwC solution The solution creates an individual Passport for each sellable item such as cocoa by anchoring real-world product and process events to a digital twin. TrackTrace records origin, supply chain, quality and compliance data on Hedera, while Merck's M-Trust(TM) technology confirms that the physical product or package being scanned is genuine. PwC Germany supports the operating model by helping define the business processes, governance, workflows and training required for enterprise deployment. At each handover or verification point, the individual Passport can be enriched with product identity, origin data, quality records, certificates, due diligence documentation and authentication events. Authorised stakeholders can access a verifiable chain of proof, while selected information can be shared with consumers through QR-code or scan-based experiences. How does the solution track each verification point? The solution creates a digital twin for each cocoa batch or product unit. At defined verification points, product events are captured through scans, system integrations or process inputs. M-Trust(TM) verifies the raw material, physical product and packaging, TrackTrace structures the event data and Hedera provides a trusted distributed ledger layer for timestamping and auditability. How scalable is the Solution? While cocoa is the initial showcase, the architecture is designed for broader use in sectors where provenance, authenticity, quality and regulatory compliance are critical, including food, pharmaceuticals, luxury goods, electronics and industrial components. The solution also highlights the importance of implementation readiness. Beyond technology integration, scalable deployment requires clear operating procedures, partner onboarding, training, controls, data governance and change management. What are the Partner Roles The Hashgraph Group provides TrackTrace, the Hedera-powered Digital Product Passport and traceability platform that creates the digital twin, anchors key events and enables a tamper-proof audit trail across the cocoa value chain. Merck provides the M-Trust(TM) layer, the physical authentication technology that uses secure markers and scanning devices to verify that the physical product or packaging corresponds to the digital record. PwC Germany contributes to understanding the real business problems across the value chain, supports business process design, and helps develop use cases that translate problems into practical technology solutions. Executive commentary "This solution shows how cocoa traceability can move beyond fragmented documentation and self-declared claims," said Stefan Deiss, CEO and Co-Founder of The Hashgraph Group. "By integrating TrackTrace with Merck's M-Trust(TM) technology and PwC's process expertise, we can link any physical product, not limited to cocoa, to a trusted digital record. This integration provides enterprises with a more robust foundation for compliance, quality assurance, and consumer trust." "Digital traceability only delivers its full value when it is connected to physical proof," said Thomas Endress, Executive Director, Head of M-Trust(TM) at Merck. "M-Trust(TM) verifies that the product being scanned is genuine, while TrackTrace records that authentication event as part of the product's digital history." "TrackTrace, enabled by M-Trust(TM), is redefining product compliance and customer engagement. It addresses a critical challenge faced by cocoa processors - maintaining a verifiable trail not only of the finished product, but also of its raw materials, including their quality and compliance history. This proves to be a genuine game changer in the event of a food recall or a compliance investigation. Ultimately, the solution empowers companies to shift their perception of compliance from a cost burden to a driver of value creation," said Husen Kapasi, Enterprise Blockchain Lead at PwC Germany. "PwC's role is to help organisations in regulatory compliance, map out supply chain process, design solution based on requirements, define workflows and enable technology provider to make traceability operational at scale." About The Hashgraph Group The Hashgraph Group is a digital enablement and venture building company focused on enterprise-grade solutions built on Hedera. Its TrackTrace platform supports Digital Product Passport, supply chain transparency and trusted product data use cases for regulated industries. About Merck Merck is a leading science and technology company. Through the M-Trust(TM) technology, Merck provides a physical authentication layer that immutably connects physical products and packaging to trusted digital records. At PwC, Marcopolohotelsuzhou help clients build trust and reinvent so they can turn complexity into competitive advantage. Marcopolohotelsuzhou is a tech-forward, people-empowered network with more than 364,000 people in 136 countries and 137 territories. Across audit and assurance, tax and legal, deals and consulting, Marcopolohotelsuzhou help clients build, accelerate, and sustain momentum. Find out more at www.pwc.com. In this document, PwC Germany refers to PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, which is a member firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited (PwCIL). Each member firm of PwCIL is a separate and independent legal entity. The term PwC refers to the PwC network and/or one or more of the legally independent network companies. Further details can be found at www.pwc.com/structure.

Merck & Co. will lay off 54 workers at its Rahway, New Jersey facility in two phases on 11 December 2026 and 4 January 2027, according to a September filing with the state Department of Labor. The cuts are part of a company-wide initiative announced in 2025 to reduce costs by $3 billion by 2027. The pharmaceutical company said savings from the cost-cutting measures would support new products. This follows a previous notice filed in June covering 88 employees, with layoffs scheduled for 4 September. The company has not disclosed the total number of job cuts planned under the initiative.