Oritain expecting growth from push over Tasman

Grant Cochrane.

Oritain Global is expanding into Australia, citing it as a market with "significant" potential for growth.

Since its establishment in 2008, the Mosgiel-based company has been a global leader in using forensic science to determine product provenance.

Oritain already had some significant Australian customers, including egg producer Farm Pride and cotton company Auscott Ltd.

Consumers were becoming more concerned with provenance and the number of recent disputes questioning the origin of food in both Australia and New Zealand had grown significantly, chief executive Grant Cochrane said.

Those included allegations that Palace Poultry onsold caged eggs as free-range eggs, and disputes involving Wagyu beef and Victorian honey and wine.

"Australian businesses are becoming more aware of the importance of traceability and how it can add value to their businesses.

"Consumers definitely want to know where their food comes from, and Oritain's proof of origin technology can offer that reassurance," Mr Cochrane said in a statement.

Oritain saw Australia as a market with significant potential for growth. They were a large country of exporters to Asian markets where food fraud, in particular, was a real challenge.

"Asian consumers tend to see Australian food as being both high-quality and safe, so this reputation - along with the bottom line - must be protected," he said.

Recent changes within the Global Food Safety Initiative industry collaboration also meant businesses were starting to have greater focus on supply chain vulnerability assessments, which was likely to mean greater adoption of control measures to help manage that risk, he said.

Oritain's new Australian business would be led by Sydney-based Sandon Adams whose experience in the food industry included a long tenure at Nestle.

Oritain has close ties to the University of Otago and is based at AgResearch's Invermay campus. It  also  has an office in London.

Earlier this year, the company partnered with global medical technology giant GE Healthcare to run a test-based traceability programme to authenticate country of origin of foetal bovine serum, used in human and animal health vaccines.