Interactive holographic labels promote wine provenance and fight fraud

The National Office of Vine and Wine Products (ONVPV) in Romania, is using holographic labels from specialist security printer Eltronis, to promote the provenance of its regional wines and protect drinkers from potential counterfeits.

The new labels combine an instantly identifiable and visually pleasing holographic brand design with high-level security, including a unique code and serial number that enables verification online and via smartphones.

Consumers simply scan the QR code which is uniquely linked to each bottle of wine. This provides access to a wide variety of information on the wine’s pedigree and production, as well as confirming that it is genuine. If the scanned label contains an invalid or duplicate code, the ONVPV is automatically alerted.

The ONVPV oversees national vineyard management and winemaking in Romania and supports the traditions in the production of wine in this designated geographical area.

Dorin Ştefan DUŞA, general manager at ONVPV, said: “Holographic markings that certify the origin and authenticity of wine are an important part in our efforts to promote our producers and a very effective tool against counterfeiters.

“With our latest label design, consumers can interact much more easily via their smartphones, giving them access to the latest information on their wines. This has proved very popular and already led to the annual volume used by winemakers more than doubling – and we expect this upward trend to continue.”

The holographic design contains multiple security features, making it impossible to reproduce, while the label material allows it to be applied to a variety of different substrates, according to Eltronis.

With high thermal, mechanical and chemical resistance the label cannot be removed without damaging it, thus making it impossible to reuse on other products. In addition, a special sub-surface printing technique is used for the variable data, making the label both more durable and extremely resistant to potential alteration.

Pete Smallwood, business development manager for Eltronis, said: “With the addition of the QR code and latest holographic features not only are they delivering greater brand impact on shelf, their security has been taken to another level with this new design, combining the best of physical and digital protection.”