Protect your export products, prove authenticity, and stand out in competitive overseas markets with the power of 2D barcodes.
Counterfeit food and beverage products are flooding overseas markets, competing with authentic New Zealand exports, and sometimes outselling them. The consequences? Brand damage, lost revenue, and potential safety risks for consumers.
With 2D barcodes, exporters can prove product authenticity and origin. These compact barcodes store more data than traditional ones and can be scanned by consumers with a smartphone, giving instant access to details like provenance, production info, recipes, and handling instructions. This simple scan builds trust and keeps your brand ahead of imposters.
With the ability to digitally carry rich data, 2D barcodes allow you to share targeted information with trading partners and end customers alike:
Start by clarifying your goal. Do you want to prove authenticity, meet regulatory requirements, or engage consumers? Your use case will determine the data you embed in your 2D barcode.
Also, check if your destination country has specific barcode, labelling, or traceability requirements.
Select the appropriate symbol (GS1 DataMatrix or QR Code) based on your application. Then determine the GS1 Application Identifiers (AIs) and additional product data needed (e.g., GTIN, batch number, use-by date, provenance information).
If you're already printing variable data in-line (like batch codes), you're halfway there. But 2D barcodes may require updated printing systems to encode that data into a machine-readable format.
Talk to Reynolds for expert advice on the right printing and labelling technology to support your export goals.
To ensure your barcodes meet global export standards and perform in-market:
If you're exporting food and beverage products, the case for using 2D barcodes is strong. These codes help prove the authenticity and origin of your products, which builds trust with overseas customers. Without them, you risk losing market share to counterfeit goods that may look like yours but damage your brand.
The best place to start is by talking to your solution provider, like Reynolds. They can recommend the right coding, labelling and data capture systems based on your export goals, helping you implement 2D barcodes smoothly and effectively.
GS1 Application Identifiers (AIs) are numeric codes that tell scanners what type of data they’re reading. Each piece of data in a barcode starts with an AI to ensure it’s interpreted correctly.
Here are some commonly used AIs: