Walmart Food Traceability with Blockchain
Sector: Tertiary sector · Industry: E-commerce · Organisation: Walmart · Maturity level: Production
Walmart uses blockchain technology for complete food traceability throughout the entire supply chain. The system reduces mango traceability time from several days to 2.2 seconds and already covers over 25 products from five suppliers. The solution enhances food safety through transparent documentation of every step from producer to consumer.
Documentation status
- Project status: Production
- Evidence: Evidence high
- Editorial review: Ufuk Avci, 15 April 2026
Description
Walmart piloted two blockchain projects with IBM: pork in Chinese Walmart stores (uploading authenticity certificates) and mangoes in US stores (origin tracking). For mangoes, the traceability time was reduced from 6 days, 18 hours and 26 minutes to 2.2 seconds. IBM wrote the chaincode; suppliers uploaded data via a web interface. The platform is called IBM Food Trust and is based on Hyperledger Fabric.
After an E. coli contamination in salad leaves in 2018, US health authorities took a week to locate the source — too slow to protect consumers. Walmart had already been working with IBM on blockchain solutions since 2016. The two pilot projects: (1) pork in Walmart China — successful upload of authenticity certificates to the blockchain, solving a serious trust problem. (2) mangoes in US stores — traceability time reduced from 6 days, 18 hours, 26 minutes to 2.2 seconds. After the pilots, Walmart and IBM, together with 11 other food companies, founded the IBM Food Trust network. Walmart's CEO then called other food retailers the same day to join — including further retailers. From 2020, IBM Food Trust became mandatory for all Walmart leafy green suppliers. Walmart now tracks over 25 products from 5 suppliers — fruit, meat, dairy products, ready meals such as salads and baby food. Frank Yiannas, then VP Food Safety at Walmart: "We can take a jar of baby food and see in seconds where it was made and trace all ingredients back to the farms."
Perspectives
B2B — organisations perspective
Suppliers do not need blockchain knowledge for IBM Food Trust — the system is designed so that a smart device and internet access are sufficient. Those who produce correctly are not unnecessarily affected in a recall because the blockchain precisely identifies the affected batches.
B2C — consumers perspective
Consumers gain assurance about the origin of their food. In case of contamination, only the actually affected products are recalled — instead of entire product categories that then go missing from supermarket shelves.
Employees perspective
Employees in quality control and supply chain management can access critical product information in real time and make informed decisions. Automated documentation significantly reduces manual effort in data collection and management.
Benefits
General
- Reduction of product traceability time from several days to 2.2 seconds through automated blockchain documentation.
- Increased food safety through seamless and immutable documentation of all supply chain steps.
- Cost savings in product recalls through precise identification of affected batches instead of large-scale withdrawals.
B2B — organisations
- Improvement of supplier relationships through transparent and trustworthy data sharing in a secure network.
B2C — consumers
- Enhanced consumer trust through full transparency about product origin and quality standards.
Employees
- Significant time savings in product traceability and quality controls through immediate availability of all relevant product data.
Challenges
General
- High initial investments for technology implementation and training of all suppliers involved in the network.
- Necessity of complete digitisation of existing supply chain processes among all partners.
B2B — organisations
- Required close collaboration with numerous suppliers of varying sizes and technical capabilities.
Employees
- Need for comprehensive training for employees to use the new blockchain-based systems.
Technology foundation
The system is based on Hyperledger Fabric for the US markets and VeChain Thor Blockchain for operations in China. These private blockchain networks enable Walmart and its partners to securely share product data while keeping sensitive business information protected.
Implementation examples
Walmart Food Trust Implementation for Leafy Greens
Walmart wanted to drastically reduce response times for food safety issues and restore consumer confidence following several E.coli outbreaks linked to leafy greens. Traditional traceability methods took days or weeks and led to costly, large-scale product recalls.
Starting in 2018, Walmart implemented blockchain-based traceability for all leafy greens suppliers to improve food safety.
Since September 2018, all direct suppliers of leafy greens have been required to use the IBM Food Trust system based on Hyperledger Fabric. The implementation was completed within a year and covers full documentation from cultivation to sale. The system uses GS1 standards for product labelling and enables traceability in 2.2 seconds instead of several days. Currently, over 25 products from five main suppliers are recorded in the system, including mangoes, strawberries, and dairy products.
The system addresses the challenge of slow and inaccurate product traceability in food safety incidents. Blockchain technology allows contaminated batches to be precisely identified within seconds, reducing costs and protecting public health.
Tags
Supply chain, Transparency, Food safety, Traceability, Quality control