EINDHOVEN, Netherlands and ALESSANDRIA, Italy, Jan. 19, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI) and Guala Closures Group today announced a collaboration to develop next generation closure solutions for the wine and spirits industry. These smart-security closure solutions will integrate near field communication (NFC) technology, providing anti-counterfeit and tamper-evident applications and monitoring. NFC will also be used to offer a direct engagement touch point with consumers – with a simple tap from an NFC-enabled smart device, consumers can learn more about the beverage in question, receive cocktail recipes, special offers, loyalty rewards and much more. These new and advanced closure solutions aim to guarantee the authenticity and integrity of branded products, hugely benefitting both beverage manufacturers and consumers.
The new NFC-enabled closures from Guala Closures will feature an opening detection and logging technology to give a clear indication of an unauthorized opening of the bottle. Consumers can also verify the genuine provenance and integrity of the product via any NFC enabled mobile device and pertinent application. Brands will be able to interact with consumers via NFC smart engagement programs both at the point of purchase and throughout the usage of the product.
“Our collaboration with NXP will enable a new generation of products for Guala Closures and the beverage closures market. The result of our work together will generate an electronic tamper evident barrier for counterfeiters and will add an extra level of protection to our non-refillable systems. On top of the advanced closure safety, this innovative solution will provide a unique communication platform for our brand clients to connect and engage with consumers at the point of purchase and usage,” says Maurizio Mittino, head of research and innovation at Guala Closures. “This revolutionary product line will generate tremendous market opportunity for us, particularly in those markets where counterfeiting is a widespread phenomenon and the population is highly aware of beverage counterfeiting.”
“Building on our long-standing leadership in NFC, NXP’s collaboration with Guala Closures supports our constant quest for innovation in the smart and secure product space,” says Matthias Poppel, general manager smart mobility and retail, NXP Semiconductors. “As the world is becoming ever more connected, our NFC technology enables unique identity products, secure brand protection solutions, a new level of product traceability as well as smart marketing services. This new scalable anti-counterfeit closure solution shall enable Guala Closures customers to protect their revenues and valuable brand assets.”
About Guala Closures
Guala Closures is the world leader in safety closures for the wine and spirits industry. The company offers highly customized packaging solutions, designed to guarantee genuine provenance of products by implementing the most advanced authentication, anti-counterfeiting and tamper-evident solutions. Guala Closures central Research and Innovation office is based in Alessandria, Italy. The company currently employs 4000 people and operates 25 production facilities across five continents. Group sales in 2014 exceeded half a billion Euros. Find out more at www.gualaclosures.com.
About NXP Semiconductors
NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ:NXPI) enables secure connections and infrastructure for a smarter world, advancing solutions that make lives easier, better and safer. As the world leader in secure connectivity solutions for embedded applications, NXP is driving innovation in the secure connected vehicle, end-to-end security & privacy and smart connected solutions markets. Built on more than 60 years of combined experience and expertise, the company has 45,000 employees in more than 35 countries.
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