Rakuten Looks to Make a Major Splash Into China’s Massive $60 Billion “Authenticity Market”

Many of our regular readers may recall that nearly a decade back, more than 54,000 infants in China fell ill after it came to light that a popular infant formula (that was being used widely across the nation by a lot of young mothers) had been contaminated with a mix of dangerous compounds such as ‘Cyromazine’. Since then, the demand for safe food products has increased exponentially within the Eastern powerhouse— a sentiment that has forced many firms to adopt blockchain-centric solutions to keep an accurate tab on the authenticity of their products.

For example, today we have big-name companies such as Techrock making use of blockchain governance models to

“track every step of their products’ life-cycle”.

The Chinese Consumer Market Wants “Authentic Food Items”

According to a host of data released over the past decade or so, the Chinese food market has been flooded with fake products since the early-90’s — which makes it extremely difficult for regular folks to find high-quality consumables such as infant formulas, powdered milk, medicine, etc. To be even more specific, researchers have found that almost 90 percent of all food items sold within China are either fake or contain external additives that might be harmful to one’s health.

Additionally, as per a spokesperson for Techrock, their recent partnership with Rakuten will help create a market where authentic goods can be procured easily by citizens at no additional charges.

At press time, it is being estimated that the Chinese market for authentic goods could be as large as $60 billion per year.

For those of our readers who may not be aware, Techrock makes use of blockchain technology in a two-fold way — namely, a novel loyalty program and a decentralized record maintenance system.

Other Key Points Worth Highlighting

• As mentioned previously, big-name players such as Techrock (and now Rakuten) are currently making use of a blockchain governance tool that allows users to obtain high-quality, authentic goods in a simple, streamlined manner.
• Techrock’s current loyalty program allows users to hold on to their earned points without having to worry about their expiration dates. This allows the firm to not only retain its existing clients but also rope in newer people who have recently been exposed to blockchain tech for the first time.
• As per many reports, Rakuten has shown interest in blockchain solutions for quite some time now. This is highlighted by the fact that the company is now looking to compete with giants such as Alibaba so as to make a mark within China’s ever-growing retail sector.
• Techrock’s above-stated Blockchain system has been devised using ‘Hyperledger’. Using this technology, customers have the ability to verify the authenticity of their purchases via a dedicated smartphone app before they even complete their payments.

Final Take

In a recent interview with a respected crypto media outlet, Techrock co-founder Alexander Busarov was quoted as saying:

“We already sell in over 220 or 230 cities where our consumers are located. It’s all sent by the local dealer companies. We think our business will grow as the demand grows.”

Lastly, it should be pointed out that China currently has one of the largest online retail markets in the world. Additionally, since the start of the decade, a number of consumers have continually lost trust in the various food products being sold by local vendors.

It now remains to be seen how the partnership between Rakuten and Techrock plays out from here on end.