How blockchain validates the provenance of rice
Cultivated rice originated in China some 10,000 years ago. The Chinese character for food is the same as the character for rice. 饭 can mean “rice”, “food” or “meal”. There are more than 40,000 varieties of cultivated rice which come from the grass species oryza sativa, but only a fraction of these are regularly consumed.
The many varieties of rice are distinguished by texture, aroma, length and colour. There is the short grain rice used for sushi, the basmati rice, named after the Hindi word for fragrant and grown exclusively in specific areas of the Indo-Gangetic plains, and the sticky rice used for desserts. Fragrant Thai rice is a long-grain rice with a subtle jasmine flavour. Few people have tasted the exotic black rice also known as forbidden rice. It is high in nutritional value being rich in anthocyanin, a powerful antioxidant. Forbidden rice is revered in China for its healthy properties. There lies the story behind its name. It was so prized that it was forbidden for anyone to consume it apart from royalty and the wealthy. European rice is different in texture and taste: Italy produces the creamy arborio rice used in risotto and Spain the bomba rice which is essential for making paella. Rice is widely grown in Asia but it is also cultivated in Africa, the Americas, Australia, Europe and Russia.
Establishing the provenance of rice at the end of a long supply chain is problematic. Alex Waugh, Secretary of the United Kingdom’s Rice Association warns that the consumer does not always get the grade of rice that he paid for. The UK is the largest consumer of basmati rice outside India and Pakistan. Worryingly the UK’s Food Standards Agency has found that nearly half the basmati rice sold in the country is adulterated with inferior-quality long-grain rice.
While it is inevitable that there will be some co-mingling of different rice varieties in the packing and shipping process sometimes it is outright fraud. Basmati rice, which commands a premium, has been targeted by unscrupulous rice traders who label adulterated batches of rice as basmati.
In 2017 the Rice Association published a code of practice on basmati rice in agreement with the British Rice Millers Association and the British Retail Consortium. The code governs the labelling of basmati rice in a bid to safeguard the reputation of basmati rice and stop false claims. Only the varieties approved by the Indian and Pakistani authorities can use the description “basmati” and basmati rice can only be marked with its country of origin if it contains at least 97% of grains originating from the country referred to on the pack.
However, the problem of adulterated rice persists and recent BBC news reports of poor-quality rice being sprayed and bleached with paraffin wax to pass it off as basmati rice have further served to highlight the issue.
A digital blockchain-enabled platform built specifically to trade rice has the potential to revolutionise the way rice is traded and labelled. Rice Exchange’s digital platform allows for decentralised and independent validation of all transactions made on the exchange. It will bring transparency, security and liquidity to the $450 billion global rice market and will give consumers greater certainty that they are getting what is on the label.
