Today, China Products Safety Publicity Week Traceability System Construction Seminar 2019 was organized. Walmart and CCFA organized this seminar in Beijing, China. In the seminar, Walmart, CCFA (China Chain-Store & Franchise Association), PwC, Inner Mongolia Kerchin Co., and VeChain’s combined effort Walmart China Blockchain Traceability Platform was announced.
The seminar had an in-depth discussion on the ways to distributing the responsibilities and how the technology should be well implemented in order to gain good quality and security of products, raise consumer confidence and contentment, and so on. As of now, 23 product lines have been released on the platform. The number will soon shoot up to one hundred product lines in various food categories such as rice, cooking oil, kinds of meats, and so on.
Use of VeChain Technology in the food company product range:
The role of the VeChain technology in the platform is very interesting. It will support Walmart China to apply the traceability strategy and this will make it the first one to use the blockchain technology in the food industry. The use of blockchain technology will allow the users to get in-depth information about the product such as- preparation process of food, the origin of the food, product inspection reports, and so on.
Further, the Chief Operating Officer of VeChain- Kevin Feng said that the company’s ambition is to support enterprises in a “large-scale digitization process.” VeChain plans to achieve this by offering secure and highly developed blockchain “deployment solutions.” On the release of the Blockchain Traceability Platform by Walmart China, he had the following to say,
[…] The launch of the Blockchain Traceability Platform by Walmart China, the world-class retail giant, is of great significance to the commercial application of blockchain technology. VeChain will work with Walmart China to actively take heed of the call of the government, by utilizing technology to promote the traceability of fresh food, and to provide innovative solutions for the traceability platform through digital technology, so as to generate more transparent and reassuring consumption experience.
As per other reports, the introduction of the blockchain technology system will give out tracking of fifty percent of the total sales of the packaged fresh meat, forty percent for the packaged vegetables, 12.5 percent for the total sales of seafood, by the end of next year.
The signing ceremony:
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Several eminent people were a part of the signing ceremony. Some of them were – Mr. Pei Liang, President of CCFA, Mr. Chu Dong, Vice President of CCFA, Mr. Shi Jiaqi, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of Walmart China, Mr. Yang Weizhi, Managing Partner of PwC China Strategy and Innovation, Mr. Kevin Feng, Chief Operating Officer of VeChain, Mr. Chen Mingzhi, Chief Ethics Compliance Officer of Walmart China, Dr. Yan Zhinong, Executive Director of Walmart Products Safety Collaboration Center, and so on.
Food safety and large-scale traceability:
With the rise in the food safety demands from the local users, the introduction of the blockchain implementation to the platform will only improve the already trusted image of Walmart China. With time, as the growth will take place, Walmart China expects growth in scope, scale, rise in the food categories, food traceability, and implementation of the technology.
This new take on the food industry will result in greater transparency, given the users of the platform will need to share some of their data. The data will remain safe due to the presence of tamper-proof blockchain technology. Moreover, this transparency will be a two-way road, as the users will be given detailed information on the product data, authenticity, and thereby enhancing the mutual trust between the users and the platform.
Future plans of the traceability platform:
The future plans are even brighter.
The Walmart China Traceability Platform is aiming at getting in the multilateral cooperation, synchronizing data from local governments’ traceability platforms and suppliers’ own platforms.
This will offer the users a higher quality of products and great safety on the other hand.
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On the other hand, the Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of Walmart China- Shi Jiaqi said,
Walmart has always worked to provide reliable products of quality and convenient services to customers, which is our core value proposition. With this target in mind, Walmart has continuously invested in the whole supply chain, from source procurement and commodity strategy, supply chain construction, to store and e-commerce platform operation management. We use digital methods to improve efficiency and transparency, providing products and services of quality to customers and making life better for busy families in China.