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Does tamper-resistant packaging go far enough?
According to Forbes, worldwide sales of fake merchandise are expected to top $2.8 trillion in 2022. Poor quality is one of the main consumers’ worries, most of all when personal care products are involved. Subpar ingredients in perfumes, makeup and skincare products can cause a range of health issues. Deliberate sabotage with nefarious intent is sometimes deadly.
With safety, brand reputation and much more at stake, smart packaging is the wave of the future for manufacturers and their customers. For more information on smart packaging, visit https://authena.io/smart-packaging/.
The Problem
Product tampering is nothing new. In 1898, a woman died after drinking Bromo-Seltzer which had been laced with cyanide. (She was not the intended target of the poisoning.) The Extra-Strength Tylenol tampering case of 1982 claimed seven lives and has never been solved.
Until recently, cutting-edge technology has had a hard time keeping up with product tampering. For instance, digital odometers, just like their old-fashioned forerunners, can be altered to a car seller’s advantage. From foods to airplane parts to medical devices to eye shadows, buyers are wise to beware.
Even popular TV addresses the potential dangers of compromised products. The hit BBC America series “Killing Eve” featured a murder-by-perfume episode.
The likelihood of deadly nerve gas making its way into a bottle of Black Opium is slim. Still, there are plenty of good reasons to take product tampering seriously:
- Untested or contaminated ingredients in makeup and perfume can trigger allergies. Some cause rashes, acne or sinus problems.
- Evidence of tampering erodes customers’ trust. Inferior counterfeits put popular brands in a bad light.
- Fake products sold at reduced prices cost manufacturers hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue.
- Millions of honest jobs are lost to the counterfeit trade.
- Ill-gotten gains sometimes fund the trafficking of drugs, weapons or humans.
- Tampering crimes, such as the Tylenol case, tend to inspire copycats.
Even when fake products do no physical harm, there is a case to be made for protection of intellectual property rights.
Authenticity in Perfumes
Perfumes are a little like fine wines. Each bottle contains a complex symphony of fragrance “notes.” Some notes form the basis of the sampler’s first impression. Others, in the same way that time-release medicines work, are designed to mellow out and please over a period of time.
Of course, the perfume maker must consider how each user’s unique scent will enhance or detract from a recipe of fragrances.
Collectors of great works of art, rare manuscripts or fine whiskeys insist on provenance. Provenance is a detailed record of ownership or the earliest known history of an item they want to buy. Provenance is an assurance of quality and authenticity.
In the whiskey industry, for example, much importance is placed on where the barley was grown and in what sort of barrels the whiskey was aged.
It’s far easier to spot a fake handbag or a plagiarized novel than it is to identify a ripped-off scent. However, demand for proof of authenticity in perfumes is growing. A great deal of knowledge, chemistry, intuition, and trial-and-error goes into every fragrance. Nothing is as galling to a parfumier — or to the paying customer — as falling victim to an imposter. Romantics who unwittingly give the gift of stinky imitation perfume are perhaps the most outraged of all.
In 2006, L’Oréal went to court to prove that another company had infringed on one of its signature Lancôme fragrances. L’Oréal successfully showed that the imitator had used 24 (of 26) identical ingredients.
The landmark case laid the groundwork for protecting perfumes as intellectual properties. Fragrances are distinguishable by sense of smell, the court reasoned, and are therefore tangible enough to warrant copyrights. Gucci and other elite perfume makers, fed up with all the street-market knockoffs of their luxury products, soon followed suit and brought cases of their own.
Anti-tampering laws exist, but they are largely focused on food products and over-the-counter drugs. Only recently has perfume counterfeiting caught the attention of law enforcement entities around the world. No fewer than two dozen agencies — including the FBI — are collaborating to detect fake products and bring frauds to justice.
Meanwhile, tech-savvy innovators are making it easier for consumers and retailers to know that they’re getting genuine goods.
The Solution: Smart Cosmetics Packaging
Tamper-resistant packaging is nothing new, and it is not a cure-all. For one thing, manufacturers sometimes go overboard with packaging that is nearly impossible to open. A phenomenon known as wrap rage is very real and is becoming more common.
What’s more, tamper-resistant packaging doesn’t address the possibility that a product isn’t what it claims to be in the first place. Fake perfumes can be just as securely wrapped as authentic ones.
Revolutionary smart packaging doesn’t just prevent contamination; it gives consumers confidence in what they’re buying. With just a tap on the product tag, they can research the provenance of the perfume in their hands.
A company called Authena, for example, offers encrypted, real-time, blockchain technology packaging. Simply put, the software tracks each product from production to the opening of the bottle. If a bottle has been penetrated, refilled, relabeled or otherwise tampered with since it left the manufacturing facility, the customer is the first to know.
Authena’s customizable tag gives access to a gold mine of information. Not only is it possible tocheck perfume authenticity with Authena (https://authena.io/fragrances-cosmetics/), but its app provides detailed product descriptions, ingredients, instructions for use, security features, expiration dates and more.
For average consumers, getting a new bottle of perfume is a special treat. For buyers of luxury brands, it’s an investment.
That’s why checking authenticity in perfumes is more important than ever. Fortunately, bright minds are developing the technology to sniff out counterfeits.
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This content is brought to you by Authena
Photo provided by Authena
