US retail chain Walmart, in partnership with IBM, intends to employ blockchain technology to monitor its shrimp supply chain.
Specifically, Walmart will utilize blockchain technology to trace shrimp sourced from India and shipped to pre-determined locations of Sam’s Club retail stores in the U.S.
Notably, it is the first time blockchain technology is employed to trace shrimp exports from Indian farmer to a retailer abroad. In this regard, John Connelly, President of the National Fisheries Institute, said:
“As one of the most traded commodities in the world, seafood has a complex and wide-reaching supply chain, which makes testing and developing technology-assisted traceability programs an important step. It is encouraging to see a retail leader like Walmart participate in seafood blockchain testing.”
To accomplish the objective, Walmart joined hands with Sandhya Aqua, the Indian seafood processor, to bring the shrimp supply chain into the blockchain powered IBM Food Trust platform so that clients can monitor where their shrimp originates.
Shrimp is India’s largest seafood export, with the US buying nearly 46% of the country’s exports. The introduction of blockchain technology will assist Indian shrimp farmers meet stringent US food standards, thereby allowing them to gain the confidence of US retailers and ensure long-term growth of shrimp farming.
Walmart has earlier implemented blockchain technology to trace food in China and some other countries. The arrival of blockchain technology has made it simpler for the retail giant to monitor its huge supply chain and take immediate action on issues related to medicines and food items in case need arises.
Last month, several international coffee companies partnered with Farmer Connect, a tech firm building farm-to-client tracking tools, to utilize the IBM Food Trust platform to implement blockchain to coffee supply chain monitoring. The startup partnered with IBM to develop the “Thank My Farmer” app, which offers clients with info about coffee products, including origin and pricing.
