Potato starch fraud thwarted by security label system

Meelunie, a top supplier of plant starches for the food, feed and industrial sectors, says it has seen counterfeiting rates plummet thanks to its use of a security technology provided by Tesa Scribos.

The Dutch company has been plagued by “counterfeit and lookalike products” trying to tap into its strong position in the potato starch marketplace – with rates of up to 50 per cent depending on the market and threatening turnover, corporate reputation and consumer safety .

Now, the copycat activity has been “effectively curbed” since it deployed Tesa Scribos’ brand protection system in the 2015.

The firm’s 150-year-old Windmill brand is sold globally, but China, Hong Kong and Taiwan are Meelunie’s most important markets in terms of volume and turnover, but are also the countries where the brand is most under attack from counterfeiters.

Meelunie - A Success Story: Stopping Counterfeits, Gaining Market Share

Meelunie turned to Tesa Scribos for a PrioSpot label bearing various security features as well as a QR code with a unique identifier that could be verified using the company’s online Connect & Check platform.

“Retailers, resellers, customs officials and end consumers just need to scan the QR code using a smartphone or visit the website for information about how to confirm the authenticity of the products using various security features,” says Tesa Scribos.

“At the same time, valuable data is sent back to the company, which can be used to make the entire supply chain more transparent and to generate crucial market insights.”

More details available here.