For US and French wine companies, counterfeit wine in overseas markets is becoming an increasing problem. In countries like China, counterfeiters sell fake expensive wines at premium prices. Now two French and US-based have come up with a new technological solution. Called Prooftag Bubble seal™, the technology will help both consumers and distributors to curb counterfeiting.

According to an article at www.canada.com, the product 'also provides the brand owners with an iPhone app that enables distributors and consumers to verify the product they are holding is authentic. The iProof app uses the phone’s camera to take a picture of the Bubble Seal™, which then cross-references an online database of products to confirm authenticity. Instant offline authenticity can be achieved with the BrandWatch Reveal detector.'

Furthermore the developers makes use of overt technologies (holograms, barcodes, watermarks, tamper-evident film) and covert technologies (not visible to the human eye, like forensic markers). Wine bottles can then be scanned at any point in the supply chain, and secure information are uploaded to a data management system, where proprietors, consumers and brand owners can track the authenticity of their wine.

The simple and ingenious system has since been applied to other luxury products such as watches and jewelry. With a growing export market to China, this technology may be something South African brand owners should consider in future.