Walmart is piloting the use of blockchain technology for end-to-end traceability of shrimp sourced from Andhra Pradesh state in India and shipped to select Sam’s Club locations in the United States, the Financial Express reported last week.
The pilot project is the first known use of blockchain to track shrimp exports from the farmer to an overseas retailer.
Walmart did not respond to a written request from SeafoodSource for comment on Tuesday, 8 October.
The project will enable seafood farmers in the region to strengthen the shrimp supply chain and reinforce customer trust in the product.
In the pilot project, the North American giant retailer has worked with Andhra Pradesh-based seafood processor Sandhya Aqua and U.S.-based supplier Stanley Pearlman Enterprises to add the shrimp supply chain to the blockchain-enabled IBM Food Trust and create shared value for the entire shrimp farm-to-table continuum.
Walmart has collaborated with IBM on the use of blockchain technology to enhance global food traceability since 2017. Blockchain is a way to digitize data and share information across a complex supply chain network in a secure and trusted manner. It can monitor food safety procedures throughout the growth and processing of shrimp.
Shrimp is India’s largest agricultural export product with the U.S. as its largest market, taking a 46 percent share of total shrimp exports by value in 2018.
In Andhra Pradesh, the state government is encouraging farmers to improve quality and comply with stringent U.S. monitoring programs to win the trust of U.S. retailers and consumers, the article said.
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