Soccer clubs, foreign brokerages , and major financial institutions are getting into cryptocurrency and blockchain. Who will join the party next? Walmart? That’s right. Walmart is the latest company who plans on using blockchain technology by the end of 2019! “Walmart utilizing blockchain” is a sentence you weren’t expecting to read in 2018, right? This is right in line with what we here at Cryptotraders Pro have been saying for quite some time – mass adoption – it’s coming!
In a letter sent to suppliers, any company working with Walmart must work with the IBM Food Trust network to create end-to-end traceability in two steps. IBM’s blockchain platform will make it easier for Walmart to source its products faster. The release stated that current systems in tracing such items are “an almost insurmountable challenge.” This means Walmart will be better able to respond to public health crises, as well as provide accurate information to an ever-growing source-curious consumer.
This move comes in response to an E. coli outbreak that started in Arizona early 2018. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) had warned consumers to avoid lettuce that was grown near the city of Yuma, AZ when the outbreak first occurred. Walmart VP of Food Safety Frank Yiannas remarked how it was difficult for customers to determine where exactly their food was grown.
In a statement, Yiannas said “None of the bags of salad had ‘Yuma, Arizona’ on them. In the future, using the technology we’re requiring, a customer could potentially scan a bag of salad and know with certainty where it came from.”
The first phase of the roll-out will require direct suppliers to create a “one-step back traceability” by the end of January, 2019. Any companies that have suppliers of their own will then have until the end of September 2019 to integrate with Walmart’s blockchain network.
“To assist you in meeting this new Walmart business requirement, we have worked closely with IBM and other food companies to create a user-friendly, low-cost, blockchain-enabled traceability solution that meets our requirements and creates shared value for the entire leafy green farm to table continuum,” says the letter.
This isn’t the first time that Walmart has used blockchain technology for food-tracking – they’ve used the technology to shore up pig product quality in China.
What do you think? Will more companies start using blockchain to create end-to-end traceability for their products? There are other uses for this technology! If you’re thinking organic food, specialty foods, and etc. etc., you’re on the right track! We talk about merchant adaptation in our podcast. Take a listen to it on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, and Youtube. Comment what you think on our Facebook and our Youtube Channel! Let us know what you think.
