Retail Giant Walmart Partners With IBM Blockchain To Track Shrimp To Sams Club Locations

Walmart recently announced that it is steering blockchain technology for end-to-end traceability of shrimp sourced in Andhra Pradesh and exported to select Sam’s Club locations in the US.

The US imports 46% of shrimp consigned from India and Andhra Pradesh is the principal shrimp exporting State in the country. Blockchain is a way to digitize data and share knowledge across a complex supply chain network in a secure and trusted manner.

John Connelly, the 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 further developing technology-assisted traceability programs an important step. It is encouraging to see a retail leader like Walmart participate in seafood blockchain testing.”

The blockchain pilot will allow smallholder farmers to export to Walmart’s membership-only retail warehouse “Sam’s Club” food safety program, which requires suppliers of seafood products to complete internationally-recognized standard best aquaculture practices (BAP). This includes responsible cultivation and sustainable farming to produce high-quality seafood produce.

This end-to-end blockchain pilot is the first of its kind in India and has the potential to create long-term economic opportunities for the shrimp farming community in Andhra Pradesh, directly benefiting the farmers through new skills training and development.

Noticeably, Walmart has been working with IBM on the use of blockchain technology to enhance global food traceability since 2017, under the IBM Food Trust initiative.

Ultimately, it will help seafood farmers in the region to strengthen the shrimp supply chain and reinforce customer trust in the product, helping promote India as a preferred source of seafood, while also enhancing food traceability and transparency for consumers in the US.