Like most merchants, the world's largest retailer struggles to identify and remove food that's been recalled. When a customer becomes ill, it can take days to identify the product, shipment and vendor. With the blockchain, Wal-Mart will be able to obtain crucial data from a single receipt, including suppliers, details on how and where food was grown and who inspected it. The database extends information from the pallet to the individual package.

In October, Wal-Mart started tracking two products using blockchain: a packaged produce item in the U.S., and pork in China. While only two items were included, the test involved thousands of packages shipped to multiple stores.

The blockchain is a distributed ledger where companies doing business with each other - such as growers, distributors and retailers - can record transactions securely. The database’s strength lies in its trustworthiness: the difficulty of reversing or changing what’s been recorded. The blockchain database can also hold much more data than what retailers get today, providing tools for more detailed analysis.

That could help Wal-Mart deliver food to stores faster, reducing spoilage and waste. Cutting costs is critical for all retailers. Last year, retail sales rose only 2.1 percent, the smallest gain since 2009, according to Retail Industry Leaders Association. Traditional offline retailers continue to be pressured by Amazon.com Inc. and its efficient supply chain.

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