Though this blog has already examined the issues the official brand name of Champagne is facing in keeping its product’s identity protected in China, there’s more to the story of wine labels seeking accurate representation in that country. As Reuters has reported, the increasing popularity of wines from France and other European countries has led to a parallel growth in the number of counterfeit bottles looking to cash in on this trend.
With nearly 68 million gallons of wine reported entering China from Europe last year, authorities are paying more attention to the potential presence of items that offer an inferior product while trading on the familiarity of a certain name. Along with Champagne, other examples appear to be brands like Chateau Mouton-Rothschild and Chateau Lafite, both of which have seen their French names applied to other wine labels or even businesses that are completely unrelated.
In such situations, making labels part of an overall strategy to combat imitation could be one solution for beleaguered alcohol and spirit companies. The president of the company that owns the Lafite brand, Christophe Salin, expressed confidence in the security of these wines, thanks to special approaches his company has been taking to keep them safe.
“If you show me a bottle of Lafite, I can instantly tell you when it was bottled, a lot of things,” Salin said. “To counterfeit it is not easy.”
Certain economies might provide more danger in this respect than others, especially when considering the cost of putting sufficient monitoring and regulatory agencies into effect. A color label printer may not completely eliminate this risk, but it can be especially useful before a company begins expanding into new territory.
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