Avery Dennison Corporation and supply chain transparency provider SUKU has announced a new collaboration with the Boisset Collection, a family-owned fine wine company. By leveraging Avery Dennison's and SUKU's NFC (Near-Field Communication)-enabled tagging solution within the wine label itself, wine connoisseurs can tap their smartphone on the label to find out more about the wine, including exclusive content, stories, videos, origin, tasting notes, and a personalised message from creator Jean-Charles Boisset (JCB).

The technology, which uses the Avery Dennison Smartrac Circus NTAG 213 integrated within SUKU Omni's supply chain transparency solution, recently launched for VIP guests of the JCB Tasting Salon in Yountville, California. Feedback from this 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.

The JCB label is placed on the JCB Passion bottle and utilized as a protection against the ‘multi-billion dollar problem’ of wine counterfeiting, and to provide access to ‘one of a kind’ marketing and personal stories from creator Jean-Charles Boisset available via the NFC label. Unlike QR or barcodes; an NFC tag does not use any readable space on the label, nor does it require line-of-sight or adequate lighting conditions to scan. With NFC technology now incorporated within most modern smartphones, consumers simply hold their device near the branded JCB label and instantly access a consumer experience coupled with digital ledger-enabled validation through SUKU.

Jean-Charles Boisset, founder of the JCB Collection, explains: “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. You can’t convey this on a standard label which is where NFC tagging, made possible by Avery Dennison and SUKU, inspires a new energy and dynamic vision for our wine. Today is our first step towards the digitization of the JCB Collection, which initially we are sharing exclusively with our JCB Collectors & Connoisseurs. However, this is just the start, and their feedback will shape the experiences of more of our consumers to come in the months ahead.”

Amir Khoshniyati, head of NFC business at Avery Dennison Smartrac, adds: “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 as we are experiencing a growing demand in the direction of going contactless post-COVID. This is a great opportunity for wine enthusiasts to grow closer to the JCB Collection and consistently push the barriers of creativity.”

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