‘The move will strengthen the supply chain and reinforce customer trust’

Walmart Inc announced that it is piloting blockchain technology for end-to-end traceability of shrimp sourced in Andhra Pradesh and shipped to select Sam’s Club locations in the U.S.

In a release, Walmart stated that the pilot project was the first known use of blockchain to track shrimp exports from the farmer in India to an overseas retailer. Ultimately, it would 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 enhancing food traceability and transparency for consumers in the U.S.

Shrimp is India’s largest agricultural export, with the U.S. as its largest market, taking a 46% share of India’s shrimp exports by value in 2018. In A.P., the heartland of shrimp farming in the country, the State Government is encouraging farmers to improve quality standards and comply with stringent U.S. monitoring programmes to win the trust of U.S. retailers and consumers and strengthen shrimp cultivation as a sustainable long-term growth industry.

Secure technology

Blockchain is a way to digitise data and share information across a complex supply chain network in a secure and trusted manner. “The possibility of transforming the seafood community with blockchain technology exists and organisations need to do the work to test its potential to optimise supply chain processes,” the release quoted John Connelly, president of the National Fisheries Institute in the U.S. as saying.