In a bid to check on fake products, leading FMCG company Cargill Foods India said it is introducing anti-counterfeit technology for its regional cooking oil brand Gemini.

By next month, the company will extend this technology to other brands in its portfolio including Nature Fresh, Sweekar, Rath, Sunflower and Leonardo Olive oil. Neelima Burra, Chief Marketing Officer, said that depending on the location the company suffers an estimated 10-20 per cent business loss, especially in smaller cities and upcountry markets due to counterfeit products.

Burra said, “Edible oil industry is one of the most unorganised sector in terms of distribution and holds a larger risk of fake products. Counterfeiting in India is rising at an alarming rate especially in the FMCG sector. We are launching this new age anti-counterfeit technology for our popular regional cooking oil brand Gemini. We will extend it to other brands by next month.”

Under this, the company has brought in changes in the packaging of the brand which will now sport a 3D hologram of Cargill Foods India to signify the authenticity of the brand. In addition, it has launched an app called “Mojo Tag”. Consumers, retailers and distributors can use this app to scan the batch code to check its authenticity.

Burra said considering a large chunk of FMCG products are sold through the wholesale channel, this app will also help the company locate regions where fake products are being sold.

According to a study by KPMG-FICCI, about 80 per cent of the consumers are victims of deceptive counterfeiting as they buy fake goods believing it’s a genuine product. The company will be running programmes to educate consumers, distributors and retailers about fake products.

The company has launched this anti-counterfeit technology, at a time when it plans to aggressively grow its consumer products business and has plans for several new launches this year. The company will also be revamping its portfolio under brand “Leonardo”.

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