Collaboration to apply blockchain technology
for food traceability to support offline and online consumers
Walmart (NYSE: WMT), JD.com (NASDAQ: JD), IBM (NYSE: IBM), and
Tsinghua University National Engineering Laboratory for E-Commerce
Technologies announced today they will work together in a
Blockchain Food Safety Alliance that will kick off with a
collaboration designed to enhance food tracking, traceability and
safety in China, to achieve greater transparency across the food
supply chain.
The four companies will work together to create a
standards-based method of collecting data about the origin, safety
and authenticity of food, using blockchain technology to provide
real-time traceability throughout the supply chain. This will
encourage accountability and give suppliers, regulators and
consumers greater insight and transparency into how food is
handled, from the farm to consumers. This has traditionally been
challenging due to complex and fragmented data sharing systems that
are often paper-based and can be error-prone.
Walmart, JD, IBM and Tsinghua University will work with food
supply chain providers and regulators to develop the standards,
solutions and partnerships to enable a broad-based food safety
ecosystem in China. IBM will provide its IBM Blockchain Platform
and expertise, while Tsinghua University will act as a technical
advisor sharing its expertise in the key technologies and the China
food safety ecosystem. IBM and Tsinghua will collaborate with
Walmart and JD to develop, optimize and roll out the technology to
suppliers and retailers that join the alliance.
As a world leader in global food safety, Walmart works closely
with suppliers, regulators, industry partners and the research
community around the world. In China, it invests heavily in food
safety research through the Walmart Food Safety and Collaboration
Center and has promoted food safety, both through its own supplier
network, as well as working with JD, which has rich omni-channel
food supply chain management experience. The two have been able to
leverage JD’s expertise in the application of artificial
intelligence (AI), blockchain, big data and other new technologies
to protect consumers.
Following IBM and Walmart's announcement in August of a new
consortium to enhance food safety, this collaboration brings IBM’s
blockchain food safety expertise to China. IBM, Walmart and
Tsinghua University have piloted the use of blockchain to trace
food items, including pork in China and mangoes in the U.S., as
they move through the supply chain to store shelves. Recent testing
by Walmart showed that applying blockchain reduced the time it took
to trace a package of mangoes from the farm to the store from days
or weeks to two seconds.
“As a global advocate for enhanced food safety, Walmart looks
forward to deepening our work with IBM, Tsinghua University, JD and
others throughout the food supply chain. Through collaboration,
standardization, and adoption of new and innovative technologies,
we can effectively improve traceability and transparency and help
ensure the global food system remains safe for all,” said Frank
Yiannas, vice president, food safety and health at Walmart.
“Partnering with IBM, Tsinghua University and Walmart, all
global leaders in traceability, gives our customers and partner
brands unparalleled accountability,” said Yongli Yu, President of
JD Y, JD.com’s supply chain research unit. “Throughout the world,
and particularly in China, consumers increasingly want to know how
their food is sourced, and JD is dedicated to using technology to
promote complete transparency.”
“Blockchain holds incredible promise in delivering the
transparency that is needed to help promote food safety across the
whole supply chain. This is a fundamental reason why IBM believes
so strongly in the impact this technology will have on business
models,” said Bridget van Kralingen, senior vice president, IBM
Industry Platforms. “By expanding our food safety work with Walmart
and Tsinghua University in China and adding new collaborators like
JD.com, the technology brings traceability and transparency to a
broader network of food supply chain participants.”
“Tsinghua University is committed to in-depth research into food
safety –one of the most important areas for improving quality of
life in China and also around the world. We have already been
working with IBM and Walmart to create a new model for food
traceability, using blockchain to support supply chain transparency
and auditability, and we see this new cooperation as an important
next step in this endeavour,” said Professor Yueting Chai from the
National Engineering Laboratory for E-Commerce Technologies,
Tsinghua University.
The collaboration is designed to help ensure brand owners’ data
privacy while helping them integrate their online and offline
traceability for food safety and quality management channels.
Companies that join the alliance will be able to share information
using blockchain technology, and plans include them being able to
choose the standards-based traceability solution that best suits
their needs and legacy systems. This will in turn bring greater
transparency to the supply chain and introduce new technologies to
the retail sector designed to create a safer food environment and
enhance the consumer experience.
The insights gained from the work in China will shed light on
how blockchain technology can help improve processes such as
recalls and verifications and enhance consumer confidence due to
greater transparency in China and around the world.
About IBM
IBM is the leader in open-source blockchain solutions built for
the enterprise. As an early member of Hyperledger, an open source
collaborative effort created to advance cross-industry blockchain
technologies, IBM is dedicated to supporting the development of
openly-governed blockchains. IBM has worked with hundreds of
clients across financial services, supply chains, IoT, risk
management, digital rights management and healthcare to implement
blockchain applications. For more information about IBM Blockchain,
visit https://www.ibm.com/blockchain/
About JD.com, Inc.
JD.com is both the largest e-commerce company in China and the
country’s largest retailer by revenue. The company strives to offer
consumers the best online shopping experience. Through its
user-friendly website, native mobile apps, and WeChat and Mobile QQ
entry points, JD offers consumers a superior shopping experience.
The company has the largest fulfillment infrastructure of any
e-commerce company in China. As of June 30, 2017, JD.com operated 7
fulfillment centers and 335 warehouses covering 2,691 counties and
districts across China, staffed by its own employees. JD.com is a
member of the NASDAQ100 and a Fortune Global 500 company.
About Walmart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) helps people around the world
save money and live better - anytime and anywhere - in retail
stores, online, and through their mobile devices. Each week, over
260 million customers and members visit our more than 11,600 stores
under 59 banners in 28 countries and e-commerce websites in 11
countries. With fiscal year 2017 revenue of $485.9 billion, Walmart
employs approximately 2.3 million associates worldwide. Walmart
continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy
and employment opportunity. Additional information about Walmart
can be found by visiting http://corporate.walmart.com on Facebook
at http://facebook.com/walmart and on Twitter at
http://twitter.com/walmart.
About Tsinghua University
As one of China’s most renowned universities, Tsinghua is
dedicated to the well-being of Chinese society and to world
development. Located in Tsinghua University, National Engineering
for Laboratory E-commerce Technologies (NELECT) is China's first
national research institute in e-Commerce field approved by the
NDRC (The National Development and Reform Commission). The
laboratory is dedicated to the research and development of next
generation e-Commerce technologies including trusted transaction
technologies, blockchain, electronic invoice technologies,
intelligent supply chain, etc.
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WalmartRebecca Lui,
1-800-331-0085rlui@walmart.comnews.walmart.com/reporterorIBMHannah
Slocumhslocum@us.ibm.comorJD.comJosh GartnerPress@jd.com
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