Sir John Key has a new job in a very interesting area of science.
The board role is with forensic and data science tracing company Oritain. They started in Dunedin in 2008 and now work with some major global partners to trace the origin of products.
With things like food fraud and counterfeit wines on the rise, the variety and possibilities are endless.
Speaking on Tova, Sir John said Oritain's got a "long way to run" but described the company as "remarkable".
"It can use both forensic DNA but also a lot of computer data mining to determine where something is from and whether it ethically is what it says it is," he told Tova O'Brien.
"So if you think about a country like New Zealand where we produce a lot of food and fibre, that becomes really important."
Key said companies will benefit from Oritain if they have competition from other products that aren't the real deal, telling O'Brien about a story when he personally advised Zespri with their product gold kiwifruit.
"Gold kiwi fruit come from a species called G3 and years ago, clippings of G3 were illegally taken and planted in China and so they've been growing what looks like Zespri, feels like Zespri, but actually isn't the Zespri product.
"Oritain is able to say absolutely, conclusively, yes, this fruit is from Kerikeri and no, this fruit is not from New Zealand."
The company itself partners with a broad range of businesses - including pharmaceuticals, and biopharma, animal, foetus, and harvesting companies.
When asked if Key is "completely confident" that Oritain is ethically sound, he said there is "no question they are".
"From all the things I've seen as a consumer, we've been very confident that the basis of the claims they make about whether something is what it is or isn't what it is, have been very accurate."
Listen to the full interview where Sir John Key and Tova also discuss Christopher Luxon's role as Leader of the Opposition above.
You can also download the full interview on the Tova podcast, and listen on the go.
