The family-owned fine wine company has extensive estates in France and North America. It is using a Near-Field Communication, (NFC) enabled tagging solution within the wine label itself. Previously Avery Dennison and SUKU cooperated to authenticate COVID-19 testing kits (see AIPIA newsletter 04/06/20)
This technology, which uses the Avery Dennison Smartrac Circus NTAG 213 integrated within SUKU Omni’s supply chain transparency solution, has been launched for VIP guests of the JCB Tasting Salon in Yountville, California. Feedback from this exclusive group will help shape plans for a wider launch in summer 2021, which will see the technology gradually introduced across the range of wine offerings within the Boisset Collection.
These JCB labels are placed on the Passion bottle, offering protection against the ‘multi-billion dollar problem’ of wine counterfeiting and to provide access to ‘one of a kind’ marketing, it claims. Unlike QR or barcodes, NFC tags do not use any readable space on the label, or require line-of-sight or adequate lighting conditions to scan. The consumer experience is coupled with digital ledger-enabled validation through SUKU.
Jean-Charles Boisset, founder of the JCB Collection, commented, “Wine lovers increasingly want to immerse themselves with our world. They want to know how the wine is made, where it comes from – its source, and the personality behind its creation… as well as the obvious … tasting and pairing recommendations. The NFC tagging inspires a new energy and dynamic vision for our wine. Today is our first step towards the digitization of the JCB Collection and is just the start.”
“The focus is more about experience,” explained Patrick Egan, The Boisset Collection’s VP of marketing and communications.” The company can change content at any time. We can provide content that’s 100% unique, so the experience will evolve over time.” While Boisset knows NFC is not a new technology, Egan sees it as a step ahead for the wine world. “We are the only ones today to have done it on a wide scale for the wine world,” he states. “I’m excited about that.”
Amir Khoshniyati, head of NFC business at Avery Dennison Smartrac, added, “We are excited to collaborate with the JCB Collection and bring the World of Jean-Charles Boisset to life using our Circus NFC Tags. NFC is standardized in all smartphones today and is utilized more than ever. We are experiencing a growing demand in the direction of going contactless post-COVID.”
Yonathan Lapchik, CEO of SUKU, said, “Supporting the Boisset Collection with our digital-ledger based supply chain transparency solution enables this renowned wine group to share its commitment to sustainability and transparency in a deeper way with wine connoisseurs and enthusiasts.”
