Walmart To Implement IBM’s Blockchain Technology To Trace Food

Most nations and industry are growing fond of applying blockchain technology to ease out processes while making them transparent and cost-efficient. Walmart has now collaborated with IBM to adopt blockchain technology as part of new food safety requirements for its suppliers.

By next year, Walmart and Sam’s Club will require the suppliers of leafy greens like romaine lettuce and spinach to adopt IBM’s blockchain technology focused on the global food supply chain to implement food traceability. The action is aimed to track food from farm to store in near real-time using blockchain’s distributed ledger system.

Since 2016, Walmart has been working with IBM to employ new levels of traceability based on blockchain technology across the food supply chain. Walmart is adopting the technology to reduce the chances of food-borne illnesses by discovering issues in the food chain, while subsequently avoiding the loss to suppliers during a recall.

“We’re committed to providing our customers with safe, quality foods,” said Frank Yiannas, vice president of food safety for Walmart. “Our customers deserve a more transparent supply chain.We felt the one-step-up and one-step-back model of food traceability was outdated for the 21st century. This is a smart, technology-supported move that will greatly benefit our customers and transform the food system, benefitting all stakeholders.”

IBM has ventured into exploring blockchain use and applying them to various supply chain scenarios including shipping, food, and banking. Last August, IBM merged food chain with Blockchain Technology collaborates With Walmart, Nestle, Dole, Driscoll’s, Golden State Foods, Kroger, McCormick and Company, McLane Company, Tyson Foods, and Unilever.

Blockchain technology is an encrypted database architecture that logs and links all transactions on a tamper-proof ledger distributed among multiple parties and thus quite secure. In simpler words blockchain creates an immutable record of time-stamped transactions related to any product that can be bought and sold. This lends the supply chain transparency along with added visibility and improves supply chain economics.

To create the blockchain platform for the global supply chain IBM collaborated with Maersk to create a new company to commercialize the platform broadly.  The aim is to create a standard for collecting data on origin, safety, and authenticity of food using blockchain technology for traceability.

Read more: Blockchain Might Be Used By USA, Russia, and China For Military Operations