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W i n e s & V i n e s O C T O b e r 2 0 1 4 37 Editor's note: The first installment of this two-part series about the problem of counterfeiting in the international wine trade (see "Protecting Your Wine" in the August 2014 issue of Wines & Vines) described the extent of wine fraud and intro- duced the types of anti-counterfeiting technologies potentially useful in the wine business. This second installment more closely examines track-and-trace tactics in search of the best anti-counterfeiting solution. here are generally three types of counterfeiters: direct manu- facturers, suppliers of empty bottles or illicit alcohol, and intermediaries within bars and clubs. It is difficult for wine producers to keep up with the variety of forged wines that are illicit, mobile and not sufficiently pursued by the local au- thorities. Bordeaux's Château Latour con- firms, "The remote authentication of Grand Cru wines with wine merchants is virtually impossible." Under these circumstances, anti-coun- terfeiting technologies—particularly those intended to minimize the "Chinese risk"—have assumed a clear and incon- trovertible strategic importance for pro- ducers of high-end wines and spirits. We can also see that, in the Chinese market, traceability methods are not always im- posed on the importer, and the importers themselves are not always adequately monitored. Therefore, protecting the bot- tles upstream appears to be essential. "The real solution is to ensure that the bottles leaving Bordeaux are difficult to copy and easy to identify," Jean Guil- laume Prats, chairman of Chateau Cos d'estournel, states in an article in Le Nouvel Economiste. the growing importance of rFid on this point, radio frequency identi- fication (RFID) technology is likely to be a major development in security de- vices. More precisely, this refers to RFID without including near-field communica- tion (NFC) technology, which in simple terms is a newer, more finely honed ver- sion of RFID. A 2012 study in MarketsandMarkets highlights this trend in terms of invest- ment opportunities. RFID clearly appears to be the fastest growing tech- nology among the high added-value markets, of which vintage wines are a central part. Among other trends in the food mar- ket, the study showed the importance of consistent budgets adapted to the imple- mentation of authentication technology, and that RFID will become essential for traceability purposes and requires a greater awareness of current track-and- trace issues. nFC tEChnoloGy technological environment Near Field Communication (NFC) is a short-range, high-frequency wireless com- munication technology that enables infor- mation to be exchanged securely between peripherals. The technology can only be used across very short distances and as- sumes a proactive approach on the part of the user. It also appears to be more ef- ficient than the neighboring technology of QR (quick response) code. "For QR code, you need to activate an application, then take and upload a suit- able photo, then wait until it is pro- cessed.…NFC does not have as many ob- stacles hampering its use: Tags can be scanned immediately merely by approach- ing them. You no longer have to launch an application first," explains the spokes- man for the French mobile wireless orga- nization Association Française du Sans Contact Mobile. BOTTLES &LABELS nFC chips for wine are often placed along the capsule edge or behind the label. P A C K A G I N G Choosing a Fraud- Prevention System take a closer look at rFid and nFC technologies for wine anti-counterfeiting By eric Przyswa Highlights • This second installment of a two-part series about wine anti-counterfeiting looks more closely at track-and-trace solutions for wine packages. • The author's research suggests that RFID and NFC technologies are the most promising means to supplement tamper-evident wine packages while also providing marketing advantages. • The NFC solution makes the consumer the de-facto expert on the product and obliges producers to imagine and develop new bonds of trust with consumers. SElINkO