New tracking technology helps to battle counterfeiting champagne.
A QR code champagne tracking system that also uses radio-frequency identification (RFID) emitters, can help producers of this luxury product combat fraud as well as give them a new way to interact with their customers.
The tech is integrated directly into the label or the bottleneck foil of each bottle of sparkling wine.
The company behind the connected labels RIFD and QR code champagne tracking tech, Billet, has specialized in printing labels for bottles of bubbly for over a century.
Arnold Deregnaucourt, head of Billet, said that in 2016 the company hadn’t printed any connected labels but as of this year (2019) they will have printed one million.
Using only quick response (QR) codes for tracking is sufficient for smaller champagne houses, according to Laurent Berns, the founder or TraceAWine, a tech firm that acquired Billet.
However, Berns says that companies with production lines that are responsible for over 12,000 bottles per hour benefit from the addition of RFID emitters, because the added technology helps to accelerate the process by allowing for bottles to be scanned inside boxes.
Using the RFID and QR code champagne tracking system, each bottle’s journey can be traced.
Each bottle of bubbly that has a QR code and RFID emitter carries a unique code. This code is linked to a unique internet address. Via this link, the bottle’s journey can be tracked from the champagne house to its destination. As such, any anomalies in transport can be traced.
“We can detect anomalies like, for example, a bottle which is scanned in Britain but then ends up in Russia,” said Berns,Phys.Org reports. “Our system will alert the client.”
In addition to providing protection against outright counterfeiting, the technology can also reportedly help champagne houses control supply chains to make sure prices are not undercut in grey or parallel markets.
For instance, according to Rodolphe Peters, owner of champagne house Pierre Peters, located in France’s Côte de Blancs region, the connected labels helped him trace clients who were reselling the company’s bottles in the United States for two or three times higher.
Moreover, the RFID and QR code champagne tracking technology not only helps champagne houses track their 
merchandise, but also betters their connection with their customers. The reason is that customers can learn more about the champagne house by scanning the bottle’sQR code with their smartphone.
