Multi-Color Corporation & Digimarc Collaborate on Food Traceability Solution and Recycling Initiative with Orkla

Rhea-AI Summary

Multi-Color Corporation (MCC) and Digimarc Corporation (NASDAQ: DMRC) have announced a partnership to enhance food safety and traceability through the serialization of product packaging using Digimarc Barcode. This initiative aims to mitigate the financial impact of food recalls, estimated at $29 million per occurrence. Additionally, MCC is working with Orkla to implement digital watermarking for improved plastic sorting, promoting sustainability. The collaboration seeks to provide consumer brands with comprehensive solutions for tracking products throughout the supply chain and improving recycling processes.

Positive

• Partnership aims to enhance food safety and traceability, addressing a significant industry concern.
• Utilization of Digimarc Barcode expected to improve product tracking at a large scale.
• Collaboration with Orkla introduces digital watermarking for better plastic sorting, promoting a circular economy.

Negative

• None.

BATAVIA, Ohio and BEAVERTON, Ore., March 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Multi-Color Corporation (MCC), a global leader in label solutions, and Digimarc Corporation (Nasdaq: DMRC), creator of the Digimarc Platform for digital identification and detection, announced today a partnership to serialize product packaging and labels with Digimarc Barcode in support of food safety and traceability initiatives. MCC is also a member of the HolyGrail 2.0 project, and the company is utilizing an additional application of Digimarc—non-serialized digital watermarking identities—with its client Orkla, a leading supplier of branded consumer goods in Europe and India, to improve the sortation of plastic and promote a circular economy.

Traceability Application

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, recalls in the food industry cost approximately $29 million per occurrence. To help mitigate the impact of these recalls, MCC and Digimarc have co-developed a hybrid printing method in which Digimarc Barcode can be printed in large volumes.

Plastic clamshells containing berries, for example, can be serialized with a Digimarc-enhanced label produced by MCC's hybrid printing process. Quality control procedures ensure Digimarc is scannable throughout the supply chain. And when consumer brands combine serialized products with an IoT management platform, individual packages can easily be traced back to their origin at a specific farm, as well as across the entire supply chain.

"Traceability is essential for consumer brands and food manufacturers to promote consumer safety, mitigate risk and gain real-time insight into raw materials and product locations in farms, warehouses, logistics and distribution centers," said Matthew Thomas, Business Development Manager, MCC. "MCC's rich expertise in the area of digital and hybrid printing brings Digimarc's serialized identities to life and at scale. It's a partnership that is perfectly positioned to impact the food supply chain of today and the future."

Plastic Sorting Application

In addition to using serialized Digimarc Barcode, MCC Verstraete IML is working with Orkla to introduce Digimarc's digital watermarking identities into packaging for one of its product lines. The interactive IML (Injection Moulding Labels) with Digimarc, can enable accurate and reliable scanning, to improve plastic sorting, and return more plastics back into the recovery stream.

"With Digimarc digital watermarking, we can alter how people view waste. For example, when a bottle is empty, it becomes unwanted—something to be discarded. Now imagine if, instead of just throwing this away, the consumer could scan the bottle with their smartphone and be shown new possibilities," said Pavel Komurka, Packaging Innovation and Sustainability Coordinator, Orkla. "We could present ideas and provide examples, from reuse options to new products created at the end of a recycling stream. With Digimarc, we're able to explore an exciting new world of opportunities."

"Our partnership with MCC provides a tangible way for consumer brands to get started on their traceability and recycling initiatives," said Scott Wilcox, VP, Client Services, Digimarc. "By partnering with the intelligent labeling experts at MCC and MCC Verstraete IML, we can improve sortation and the re-use of plastic materials, an issue of paramount importance to the world we all share. Our solution starts with the action of the consumer and extends into better identification in material recovery facilities, eliminating more of the waste that ends up in our environment."

Original White Paper

MCC published an original white paper, "Intelligent Food Labelling," that highlights the challenge of food safety, outlines the benefits of Digimarc Barcode and details how MCC is working with Orkla to support its sustainability goals. MCC also recently held a webinar on the same topic with panelists Matthew Thomas, Business Development Manager at MCC Label, Jay Sperry, Platform Evangelist at Digimarc and Nico Van de Walle, Product & Circular Economy Manager at MCC Verstraete.

Find out more about MCC's solutions and learn more about the traceability benefits of Digimarc.

About MCC

Multi-Color Corporation is a global supplier of premium label solutions. We share our knowledge and experience so our customers can benefit from our insights, not only to improve the efficiency in their production, but also to optimize the emotional characteristics of their packaging solutions. Visit mcclabel.com and follow us on Linkedin to discover more.

About Digimarc

Digimarc Corporation (NASDAQ: DMRC) is a pioneer in the automatic identification of media, including packaging, other commercial print, digital images, audio and video. The Digimarc Platform takes industry beyond the barcode, providing innovative and comprehensive automatic identification software and services to simplify search and transform information discovery through unparalleled reliability, efficiency and security. The Digimarc Platform enables applications that benefit retailers and consumer brands, national and state government agencies, media and entertainment industries, and others. Digimarc is based in Beaverton, Oregon, with a growing supplier network around the world. Visit www.digimarc.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to learn more about The Barcode of Everything®.

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SOURCE Digimarc Corporation

FAQ

What is the focus of the Multi-Color Corporation and Digimarc partnership?

The partnership focuses on enhancing food safety and traceability through the serialization of product packaging using Digimarc Barcode.

How much do food recalls cost the industry per occurrence?

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, food recalls cost approximately $29 million per occurrence.

What initiative is MCC implementing with Orkla?

MCC is implementing digital watermarking for improved plastic sorting to support sustainability initiatives.

What is the significance of Digimarc Barcode in this partnership?

Digimarc Barcode enables efficient product serialization, allowing for better traceability and risk mitigation in the food supply chain.

What are the expected benefits of the partnership for consumer brands?

The partnership is expected to provide consumer brands with tools for better product tracking and enhanced recycling processes.