Australia Post, Alibaba to track food exports from paddock to plate

March 24, 2017

MELBOURNE - Australia Post has joined an initiative with Alibaba, the world’s biggest eCommerce company, and the Australian natural health company, Blackmores, to help combat the rise of counterfeit food being sold across China. Professional services firm PwC is an adviser to the project.

The initiative will increase the traceability of food products, reducing the risk of fraud and ensuring Australia remains a trusted exporter.

Australia Post Executive General Manager Parcels, and StarTrack CEO, Bob Black, said the project would help guarantee genuine products arrive safely into the hands of Chinese consumers. The initiative will track food from paddock to plate.
 “The initiative will support the authentication of Australian products bound for the Chinese market,” Black said.

“Our food producers have a global reputation as clean, green and safe, and we are pleased to help deliver a solution to enhance the integrity of their produce.”

The project will explore new technologies, including blockchain - a decentralised database - which can obtain crucial details from suppliers about where and how their food was grown and map its journey across the supply chain.

The technology is said to have the potential to enable up-to-date audits, increasing transparency between producers and consumers.

In recent years counterfeiters have targetted popular Australian products such as health supplements, beer and wine, honey and cherries.
 
Australia Post’s new partnership with Alibaba comes after the two signed an agreement last month to extend Australia Post online storefronts beyond China to Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

The storefronts will operate on Southeast Asia’s leading eCommerce network, Lazada, in which Alibaba has a majority stake.  www.auspost.com.au (ATI).