- Walmart China has joined forces with VeChain, PwC, and others to launch its food traceability project
- Walmart China has already stored the details of 23 products on the VeChain distributed ledger and it plans to scale it to 100 shortly
- The project is expected to boost consumer confidence
VeChain (VET), a distributed ledger technology (DLT) project that claims to be focused on connecting blockchain technology to the real world through blockchain-based solutions, has been adopted by Walmart China for its food traceability project, according to a blog post on June 25, 2019.
Walmart Launch DLT-based Food Traceability Programme
According to a Medium blog post, in a bid to foster transparency and boost consumer confidence in its products, Walmart China has joined forces with VeChain Thor, PwC, Inner Mongolia Kerchin, and China Chain-Store & Franchise Association (CCFA), to launch the Walmart China Blockchain Traceability Platform.
Specifically, the project which was announced during the 2019 China Products Safety Publicity Week Traceability System Construction Seminar, will enable consumers to easily get the entire information about Walmart China’s food products including the original source of the products, logistics process and more, by simply scanning the attached QR code.
Walmart China has made it clear that it will continue to expand the platform by adding more critical data to the distributed ledger.
23 Products Stored on the Blockchain
At present, the Walmart team says it has successfully added the details of 23 product lines on its blockchain platform and it plans to add another 100 product lines before the end of 2019.
The products reportedly span more than 10 product categories including rice, mushrooms, fresh meat, vegetable oil and more.
If all goes as planned, Walmart China expects its traceability program to account for at least 50 percent of the total sale of packaged fresh meat, traceable vegetables for 40 percent of the total sales of packaged vegetables, while traceable seafood for 12.5 percent of the total sales of seafood by the end of 2020.
Walmart China firmly believes that its collaboration with VeChain will enable it to achieve its mission of improving food safety and quality management while also solidifying its status as a leader in food traceability.
Commenting on the collaboration with Walmart China, Kevin Feng, Chief Operating Officer of VeChain reiterated that the food traceability initiative by Walmart China represents a huge milestone in blockchain’s journey towards mainstream adoption.
He said:
“VeChain will work with Walmart China to actively take heed of the call of the government, by using DLT to promote the traceability of fresh food, and to provide innovative solutions aimed at fostering transparency and reassuring consumption experience.”
Earlier in April 2019, Blockchain Reporter informed that leading auditing firm, Deloitte had announced plans to build its blockchain network on VeChain Thor.
At press time, the price of VeChain (VET) has increased 27.57% at $0.009, with a market cap of $508.51 million as seen on CoinMarketCap.