Multi-Color Corporation and Digimarc Corporation announced 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. 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.