Cargill Foods brings technology to check counterfeiting

Leading edible oil firm Cargill Foods India today introduced anti-counterfeit technology in its cooking oil brand Gemini at a cost of about Rs 2 crore to fight against fake products, besides protecting brand image and revenues.
Cargill Foods India, part of the US food major Cargill, will launch this technology in other brands from next month, such as Nature Fresh, Sweekar, Rath, Sunflower and Leonardo, as the company said that it witnesses 10-20 per cent business loss in smaller cities and rural markets due to fake products.
The company will soon bring new range of 'Leonardo' olive oil, its Chief Marketing officer (CMO) Neelima Burra said.

"We have introduced new-age anti-counterfeiting technology in Gemini, which is our popular brand in South and West India. From next month, this will be in our all other brands," she told reporters here.
Burra said this anti-counterfeiting technology has a unique feature with a two-way process to check the authenticity. The estimated cost would be about Rs 2 crore.
"This process includes a 3D Hologram of Cargill Foods India which signifies the authenticity of the product. On looking at this hologram using the phone's torch light, one can see '1865' written - the year of foundation of Cargill Foods India's operations," she said, adding that there are multiple layers of security in this hologram.

Besides, the customer can download an app called 'Mojo Tags' to scan batch code of the product and receive the reassurance of the genuineness of the product.

"We can now identify where the counterfeit has been detected and take immediate action," Burra said.
According to a study by KPMG-FICCI, about 80 per cent of the consumers are victims of deceptive counterfeiting, i.E. they buy fake goods in the belief of buying genuine ones, the company said.
"Counterfeiting in India is rising at an alarming rate, especially in the FMCG sector. A report by FICCI-KPMG suggests that out of the total counterfeit market, 65 per cent is from this sector. Edible oil industry is one of the most unorganised sectors in terms of distribution in India, hence, it holds a larger risk of duplicity," Burra said.

While consumers end up paying excessively for low quality products that could possibly have health and safety risks, producers risk damage to brand image, she said.
Burra said the company would launch awareness campaign for consumers as well as its wholesalers and retailers, while continuing to take necessary legal action against counterfeiting and getting the cases registered.