It was disturbing how quickly and rapidly Helen Darling recited cases of food scares and food fraud.
Sure, there was the well-documented melamine milk contamination in China, but the managing director of start-up Dunedin food-verification company Oritain has many more, and during our interview they just kept rolling out.
A two-year case involving attempts to label substandard foreign meat as coming from New Zealand has just ended, and the cost to this country had such a case not been discovered would have been felt throughout the economy.
Given increasing consumer concern about food safety, the enviable reputation of safe food-producing countries such as New Zealand is a priceless asset that countries and industries must protect, and that is where Oritain comes in.
Simply, Oritain geochemically profiles clients' production areas to determine the fingerprint of food products, and with that verification, co-brands the products as proof of origin.
They are commercialising international science.
Dr Darling said the chemical and isotopic signatures in food reflected the soil, water and environment in which it had been grown, and was expressed through the plant material and fruit itself.
"It can't be copied; it can't be tampered with as it is in the product itself."
The co-brand assured consumers the food came from where labelling said it came from, and unlike traceability systems, provided scientific proof of that origin.
Dr Darling said Oritain's verification extended beyond country-of-origin labelling, which did not prevent contamination of products or fraudulent representation of a brand.
Some foods, for example, were manufactured in a number of countries, making county-of-origin labelling difficult, if not impossible.
The New Zealand Food Safety Authority has a policy of not making country-of-origin labelling mandatory, but moves are under way to individually identify every farmed deer and cattle beast so they can be traced.
Having a country-of-origin label did not guarantee against fraud or lower quality product being substituted because labels could be replicated or ripped off and there was no way of proving where the product came from as has happened to New Zealand meat packaging.
"It's only a sticker. We are saying we can verify it," she said.
The science and technology was well proven, with the European Union recently spending $300 million developing part of the technology.
Consumer reaction has been positive, with research here and overseas showing consumers would pay more for food which had verified country of origin.
Oritain global sales and marketing director Will Anglin said verified country-of-origin labelling rewarded those companies that had it and punished those that did not and produced poor food.
New Zealand, being an island nation and the producer of high quality food, was ideal to initiate such a venture.
Its food was safe, of high quality, there were no land borders and it was in the country's interests to do all it could to protect those attributes.
While environmental information only needed to be gathered once, Dr Darling said the process had to be cost effective.
It could be a case that blood, hair or velvet samples from deer could provide enough information about a district.
It was a similar story for fruit, with several strategically sourced samples providing enough data for a district.
Three laboratories around the world were service providers for Oritain and a fourth was in negotiations, but all the base data would be held in Dunedin.
Oritain was nearing the end of case studies to prove the economic worth of its technology and methodology with local producers of wine, venison, velvet, beef, sheep meat, honey and pipfruit, and hoped to show sector producer groups how it worked, prove its value and get their support.
With that support, Mr Anglin said they hoped to take the concept to international supermarket and retail chains in the United States, Europe and Australia.
Mr Anglin said the business had the potential to be very large, but it would be built on a franchise model except for New Zealand and Australia, which would be run as a single operation.
He has connections with several United States supermarket chains and verification of origin would prove attractive to retailers of premium products, he said.
"What we have to offer them is a point of difference."
New Zealand's image and reputation was not difficult to sell in the US.
"New Zealand is very sexy to US investors. I don't think people understand the aura of this place."
Eventually, supermarkets could be offered the opportunity to become independent stakeholders as a way to attract more equity.
Mr Anglin has made a career launching start-up companies and said the key was not to give away equity in the company until necessary.
A holding company would own Oritain but would be independent of the science on which it was based. A chief science council will oversee the science, enforce standards, protect integrity and continue to improve and develop the science.
Attracting the attention of investors was a problem when establishing a global company from New Zealand, but Mr Anglin said the science and compelling need for a system verifying the origin of food would help sell the idea.
Countries were introducing country-of-origin and traceability systems.
"Whether we like them or not, whether it is sensible or not, we need to be aware of them."
The principals behind Oritain have science and business backgrounds but have connections through having children at the same schools and also at the Macandrew Bay scout group.
Mr Anglin became involved when meeting Dr Darling on a flight to the US.
While the initial emphasis has been on food, the science also has the potential to be applied to pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.
Dr Darling said the World Health Organisation estimated 10% of pharmaceuticals were counterfeit, and the incidence of counterfeit cosmetics increased 264% in the past year.
The beauty for a small company with grand ambitions like Oritain was that demand for independent verification was being driven by consumers and retailers were going to have to provide it.
Oritain
• Oritain Holdings Ltd is based in Dunedin.
• Scientifically verifies the origin of food.
• Target market is high-end supermarkets.
• Could expand to pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.
• Principals:Dr Helen Darling, managing director.
• Will Anglin, director global sales and marketing.
• Murray Walker, finance director.
• Mike Darling, forensic specialist.
• Dr Russell Frew, director science and technology.
