Walmart China Subsidiary Teams Up With VeChain to Trace Food Products
VeChain has partnered with a Walmart China subsidiary to increase supply chain transparency for its food products.
Sam’s Club, a China-based subsidiary of Walmart, has partnered with blockchain-based supply chain management platform VeChain (VET) to trace food products sold by the shopping chain.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) will assist in the Sam’s Club Blockchain Traceability Platform project, which is intended to both ensure food safety and afford greater transparency to consumers in China.
Since mid-2019 PwC China and Walmart China have been developing a traceability platform on the VeChain blockchain called the Walmart China Blockchain Traceability Platform.
Sam’s Club has 2.5 million customers
Sam’s Club is a membership-only high-end shopping chain that operates 26 outlets in China with an estimated customer base exceeding 2.5 million people. The chain is expected to launch a further 15 to 20 new outlets before the end of 2022.
Sam’s Club will utilize a modified version of VeChain’s ToolChain platform alongside software sensors, hardware sensors and Internet-of-Things (IoT) technologies to automatically upload data from across the company’s supply chain onto the blockchain.
Customers will then be able to access detailed information on the origin of products in-store by scanning QR codes printed on the packaging for Sam’s Club’s goods.
VeChain doubles down on food traceability
In an announcement published June 2, VeChain noted that Sam’s Club has recently increased its range of premium foods, “including imported seafood, meat, wine, and dry goods.”
VeChain emphasized the “long-term pain points in fresh food transportation, product selection, product information transparency and visibility,” touting the efficacy of blockchain solutions in addressing such issues.
In November 2019, VeChain unveiled ‘Foodgates’, a blockchain-based tracking system designed for the food and beverage industry. The firm highlighted that DLT traceability platforms for food and other commodities stood to benefit from China’s increasingly pro-blockchain stance.
