12-39. The worldwide olive oil industry is extremely vulnerable to fraud, counterfeiting, and adulteration. To help combat this, Italian olive oil brands Buonamici, La Ranocchiaia, SPO, and Il Cavallino introduced NFC tags on their packaging. Using the iOlive mobile app, consumers can authenticate the product at the point of purchase. The system also enables greater consumer engagement by delivering product information directly to the consumer. The iOlive platform catalogs over 150 Tuscan extra virgin olive oils.

Brands are constantly pushing packaging forward with new technology. The brands need to balance the advantages of changing the packaging with the costs associated with making those changes. Investigate local examples of packaging being used to prevent fraud or counterfeiting. How did they work, and were they successful?