VeChain saw a 50% jump in its token price yesterday morning as it was announced that Walmart China will start using its blockchain to verify food product quality. The news was leaked on LinkedIn by Tom Foth, senior director at Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC), and confirmed shortly afterwards by VeChain CEO Sunny Lu. The move marks a huge step forward in VeChain’s ambition to be a world leader in blockchain-based supply chain verification, as well as the adoption of blockchain technology as a whole.
VeChain’s Coup Marks Real Adoption
VeChain’s deal is important because of the scale of the Walmart operation in China – they have 426 stores, 8 dry distribution centers, and 11 fresh distribution centers in 169 cities across the country. The project, called the ‘Blockchain Food Safety and Traceability Platform’, is a partnership between Walmart China, VeChain, PwC, China Chain Store and Franchise Association (CCFA), Kerchin, and others. Given that 95% of Walmart China’s food is sourced locally, this makes the job of tracking it easier and more reliable than dealing with international suppliers.
WalMart will use VeChain’s VeThor blockchain technology to verify products along the supply chain, with customers able to scan products through the ubiquitous WeChat app as they browse products in stores. VeChain CEO Sunny Lu said of the deal:
It’s not just a “partnership”, and it’s a live project and application with valuable transactions to be seen by consumers.
Tracking Important to Customers
23 product lines have so far been launched on the platform, with the number expected to reach 100 by the end of the year, including fresh meat products, rice, and mushrooms. There are big plans for the system however – the collaboration should see between 12% and 50% of all meat, vegetables, and seafood being traceable by the end of 2020.
The partnership comes just two weeks after French retail giant Carrefour announced a rise in sales of products that customers could trace in-store using their phones and blockchain technology, suggesting that knowing the origin of products is indeed of importance to customers, which is something that blockchain is perfectly placed to take advantage of.
