TrackBack has successfully tracked genuine mānuka honey from its origin in New Zealand to its destination in Shanghai, China using blockchain technology.
All events along the supply chain, as well as evidence of the company’s testing protocol to verify grade were recorded to the blockchain.
The successful proof of application was the outcome of a collaboration between TrackBack, AsureQuality and NZ Post using mānuka honey from The True Honey Co.
TrackBack provides complete traceability to ensure global confidence in product authenticity, integrity and provenance. This means the recipients in China were able to verify that the jars of honey they received were the same jars that had been packaged in New Zealand.
Increasing value creates increased risk of counterfeiting
New Zealand has a strong history of producing high quality exports, especially in the food and ingredients markets. This very success makes locally produced products an attractive target for low cost imitations. These imitations have the potential to undermine the premium assigned to New Zealand-made goods in the global marketplace. The Grocery Manufacturers Association in the United States estimates that the counterfeiting of global food and consumer products costs the industry US$10-15 billion per year[1].
Counterfeit concerns are not confined to the food industry. According to the Global Brand Counterfeiting Report 2018, the amount of total counterfeiting globally reached US$1.2 Trillion in 2017 and is bound to reach US$1.82 Trillion by the year 2020.[2]
Semanie Cato (pictured), TrackBack head of business development, says TrackBack enables any business to build a traceability solution quickly and easily to safeguard the value of its unique product offering, giving confidence to customers and building trust with consumers.
“Building a trusted food framework in New Zealand will allow the food industry to elevate its value proposition: from commodity to items of desire. New Zealand needs to see itself as a luxury brand within the food space globally.”
Using blockchain, suppliers can differentiate their premium products from cheaper imitations and counterfeits to provide another layer of protection against counterfeit, protect brand reputation and differentiate New Zealand exports from the competition.
Connecting producers and consumers
“We’re aiming to build that Sunday market connection between producers and international consumers, by providing blockchain services to authenticate supplier claims and make any product’s journey visible.
“TrackBack gives everyday consumers the ability to understand exactly what they are purchasing, eating or wearing in a way that has been largely lost in the internet age. We do this through our place in Centrality’s ecosystem and blockchain expertise,” explains Semanie.
Building trust
TrackBack’s core technology enables any company in any industry, whether it be food, fashion or aviation to build trust for its customers.
“Blockchain is the ideal tool to bring transparency and accountability to the supply-chain as it acts as a single immutable ledger that all parties can see,” says Dene Green, NZ Post international GM.
Consumers can exercise their right and responsibility to know the ethical and environmental impact of the goods they choose to consume. The blockchain ledger records all transactions at every point in the supply chain, offering a secure and transparent ledger to provide transparency to all parties involved.
Following the success of this initial trial, TrackBack is working towards a commercially available technology to secure the authenticity, integrity and provenance of New Zealand made premium products.
[1] https://www.gmaonline.org/downloads/research-and-reports/consumerproductfraud.pdf
[1] https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/7j7l2n/global_brand?w=4
