Chocolate cakes made in a rice cooker without an oven, braised mackerel you eat when you miss mom’s cooking, etc. These are contents listed on “Haemuk Namnyeo,” a recipe application. There are also other contents. You can get recommendations on suitable menus based on reference data and buy ingredients for cooking. Haemuk Namnyeo, which was unveiled in 2015 by foodtech company VitalHint Korea, has enjoyed popularity among self-boarding students looking for simple home-made foods and has secured 3.3 million members.

Although the number of application users increased, VitalHint Korea CEO Paul Chung still had much to worry about. He had to make the best use of data to establish a more precise recommendation system, but it was not enough merely with members’ reference data or purchase data. That’s because data on factual inclinations are held by such centralized platforms as Google and Facebook. To put together data scattered in various platforms and return the data sovereignty to users, he needed something. And Chung’s answer to that question was “blockchain.”

Why blockchain?

Blockchain projects have to suggest an answer to the question: “Why blockchain?” In connection with this, Chung says, “We need blockchain because we are in the food industry,” noting that “there is no one who has no preference for food and people’s tastes are diverse. Blockchain is essential because it can help collect data transparently.” He added: “Those involved in the food industry who must keep up with changing tastes also need a platform that could piece together the related data.”

Based on these beliefs, Chung hit upon the Hintchain project, a business protocol that links the blockchain mainnet to a decentralized application (DApp). It is a concept of interface enabling DApps to run on the mainnet smoothly. His first DApp is highly likely to be its own service Haemuk Namnyeo (which literally means men and women who cook for themselves and eat.) After this, the company’s partners engaged in diverse food segments will come with DApps. “If the mainnet is a general-purpose operating system, the Hintchain is an OS optimized for the food industry,” Chung said.

An artificial intelligence-based food platform, Haemuk Namnyeo generates a “personal good profile,” which refers to everyone’s different taste. Users who provide data needed for the personal food profile will get token rewards and can spend them on buying foods. The company itself can also use the profile to post ads tailored to customers’ needs. Chung said companies conservative about buying data react positively to the fact that they can post customized ads commensurate with profiles, noting that “blockchain technology can be used practically in everyday life.”

How to overcome difficulties

However, Haemuk Namnyeo also has to address problems faced with existing DApps. The biggest problem lies in its inability to secure as many users as centralized applications do. Such DApps as Haemuk Namnyeo that use data should verify collected data. But Chung remains confident of solving these problems.

“As Haemuk Namnyeo is an entity that adds blockchain technology on to the existing service, it will begin based on data of 3.3 million members. Already, there is a colossal class of users,” he said. VitalHint Korea’s existing data are to be stored in the blockchain network after getting consent from users. Touching on the data verification, he said data will be verified in two stages; the company’s quantified own algorithm intended to analyze calories, taste, nutrients and ingredients filter out data first and then a consumer watch group consisting of users will filter out commercialized false data.

The company also has to overcome negativity on utility tokens. A utility token is one used to receive a certain service. It takes the lion’s share of an ICO but could lose value easily if the service is used less. So there has been skepticism about the outlook of utility tokens recently. “The reason why many utility tokens lose value is that no blockchain service has been used yet in the real world. Yet utility tokens will be used widely in everyday life because the blockchain business is just beginning,” Chung said.

Opting for Klaytn

It was Kakao’s public blockchain platform Klaytn that Chung opted for as the mainnet after having confidence in blockchain. The Hintchain joined the food sector out of nine partnering segments Klaytn had announced. Klaytn plans to launch its mainnet in the first quarter of next year following the disclosure of its testnet on Oct. 8.

Asked why he chose Klaytn, he praised it as a service-friendly blockchain platform that sympathizes with the norm that blockchain should be used in real life, saying, “What benefits users can have through blockchain is more important than performance such as TPS (transactions per second).” “Unlike most third-generation platforms repeatedly talking about how to solve the problem of scalability, Klaytn offers components DApp developers need actually,” Chung said, adding that his company has been receiving a comprehensive set of support programs including technology and marketing from the time when it worked on DApp designing.

VitalHint Korea plans to bring forward its DApp development in time for the disclosure of Klaytn’s mainnet. He said, “We will build a blockchain food platform that can work in real life properly.”
/Hyunyoung Park Reporter hyun@decenter.kr

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