In today’s global market, counterfeit products and illicit trade present a significant threat to businesses. With the value of counterfeit goods estimated in the trillions, this growing crisis is one no company can afford to ignore.
Every counterfeit item sold not only siphons revenue from the rightful brand, but also erodes consumer trust and can damage a brand’s reputation. As a global leader with over 200 years of security expertise, De La Rue helps brands protect their legacy and supply chains through trusted, high-performance authentication solutions.
In this blog post, we explore De La Rue’s role in brand authentication and how its real-time solutions help businesses protect their products from counterfeiting while boosting sales and customer confidence.
Counterfeiting and illicit trade have become a widespread and deeply embedded issue across global markets. What was once considered a problem limited to luxury goods has now extended into almost every sector, including pharmaceuticals, consumer electronics, automotive parts, and fast-moving consumer goods. This expansion reflects how easily counterfeit products can penetrate legitimate supply chains, often without detection, leaving both businesses and consumers vulnerable.
The challenge lies not only in the scale but also in the increasing sophistication of counterfeit operations. Advanced replication techniques, deceptive packaging, and the rise of online marketplaces have enabled counterfeiters to distribute fake goods more effectively and discreetly than ever before. These operations often span multiple countries, making enforcement difficult and reactive measures slow to take effect.
As a result, the burden falls heavily on brand owners to proactively defend their products and reputations. Governments and regulators are stepping up efforts, but the pace of change is outstripped by the speed and reach of illicit trade networks. In this climate, companies must take a more strategic approach to brand protection, incorporating advanced authentication technologies, cross-border partnerships, and long-term resilience planning to stay ahead of evolving threats.
At De La Rue, our global team of counterfeit specialists, scientists and technology experts are dedicated to staying ahead of emerging threats. We continually invest and develop the latest authentication technologies to ensure our solutions evolve ahead of the counterfeiters tactics. This commitment to innovation enables us to provide brands with reliable, forward-looking protection that meets the demands of today’s complex global supply chains.
In order to step up to these emerging threats, we combine physical security features such as secure labels, holograms, and unique serialised numbers with sophisticated digital verification platforms, De La Rue provides a layered and robust defence against counterfeiting. These integrated solutions extend well beyond manufacturing and distribution, delivering protection through to the end user experience.
In practice, each genuine product can be assigned a secure identifier such as a holographic label or scannable code linked to a centralised database. These identifiers incorporate advanced features with sophisticated holography and other high-security elements that are exceptionally difficult to replicate. When paired with De La Rue’s digital platform, this enables real-time authentication, monitoring, and global product traceability from production to point of sale.
The outcome is a comprehensive and effective safeguard against illicit trade, allowing businesses to identify and intercept counterfeit products at any stage of the supply chain, while significantly raising the barrier to entry for those attempting to imitate legitimate goods.
Real-time Verification
Instantly confirm product authenticity at any stage of the supply chain. Whether it’s during warehousing, distribution, or point of sale, rapid verification provides immediate assurance and operational efficiency.
Effective Fraud Prevention
Early detection of counterfeit and diverted goods enables swift intervention. The system highlights unauthorised products, helping businesses mitigate threats before they reach consumers.
Revenue Protection
By removing fraudulent competition from the market, brands are able to recover sales that would otherwise be lost to counterfeiters. This also supports pricing integrity and long-term brand value.
Increased Consumer Confidence
When consumers can verify the authenticity of a product themselves, via visible security features or mobile-enabled checks they gain confidence in the brand. Over time, this fosters stronger customer loyalty and trust.
Seamless Integration
The authentication system is designed to complement existing operations. It can be integrated with inventory management, ERP systems, and point-of-sale infrastructure without the need for major changes.
Rapid Deployment
Flexible and modular by design, De La Rue’s solutions can be implemented quickly, minimising disruption and enabling brands to respond rapidly to emerging threats or market requirements.
Mobile Device Compatibility
Authentication can be carried out using everyday devices such as smartphones or tablets, enabling a wide range of stakeholders from inspectors and partners to end consumers to verify products wherever they are.
End-to-End Expert Support
De La Rue provides access to a dedicated team of experts who will support you from design through to application, helping you overcome any challenges you might face. We currently stand side by side with some of the world’s biggest organisations, delivering proven, scalable authentication solutions that evolve with your needs.
A central advantage of De La Rue’s authentication technology is its ability to deliver real-time verification at scale. When a product is scanned, its unique identifier is checked against a secure database, immediately confirming whether it is genuine or flagged for review.
This allows distributors, retailers and enforcement teams to respond proactively, isolating suspicious items, whether counterfeit or diverted, before they reach the market. Because every product carries a unique serialised identity, any duplication, unauthorised replication or grey market diversion can be detected swiftly.
Real-time insights also offer a valuable layer of intelligence, enabling brands to track product movement, identify high-risk regions and respond to fraudulent activity with precision. With verification tools available on mobile devices, authenticity checks can take place at any point across the supply chain, from manufacturing and customs clearance to retail and post-sale engagement.
Ultimately, this transforms the supply chain from a passive process into an active security framework, making it significantly more difficult for counterfeit and diverted goods to infiltrate legitimate channels.
Recognising the signs of counterfeit activity allows brands to react before significant harm is done:
Drop in Sales: A sudden decline could suggest cheaper counterfeit alternatives are circulating.
Suspicious Warranty Returns: An increase in fake product returns can spike customer service costs.
Early detection is a critical first step in mounting an effective response. Coupled with robust authentication solutions, these insights help brands stay one step ahead of counterfeit threats and protect their reputation and customers.
| Industry | Risk | Authentication Measures |
|---|---|---|
| Pharmaceuticals | Health risks from fake medications | Secure packaging, tamper-evident features, QR codes |
| Luxury Goods | Revenue loss, brand dilution | Track & trace, holograms, forensic markers |
| Tobacco & Vapes | Illicit trade, regulatory challenges | Authentication labels, mobile verification |
Today’s counterfeiters use advanced manufacturing methods, making it nearly impossible to distinguish fakes from authentic products without specialised tools. Traditional visual inspection is no longer sufficient, and must be layered to form a robust protective solution.
Without embedded brand protection, it's extremely difficult for distributors or customers to detect counterfeit products. Worse still, delays in detection can result in products spreading across borders before the brand is even aware of the issue.
Authentication features such as secure labels, digital codes, and mobile verification enable brands to:
Validate authenticity in real time
Track where and when a product was scanned
Identify suspicious activity patterns
De La Rue's anti-counterfeiting technology is designed for rapid deployment with minimal operational disruption. Whether for small production runs or global product lines, our scalable platform offers:
Quick onboarding without major changes to packaging
Compatibility with existing production systems
Mobile and cloud-enabled verification tools
The following matrix highlights some of the most widely adopted and proven solutions used across global industries.
| Technology | Feature | Benefit |
|
QR Codes |
Consumer-friendly verification |
Fast and intuitive method of accessing track and trace data |
| NFC | Secure tap-to-verify technology | Prevents unauthorised duplication and tampering of products |
|
RFID |
Real-time tracking |
Provides full visibility across the supply chain |
|
AI & Data |
Behavioural monitoring & diversion tracking |
Identifies patterns of counterfeit activity and detects grey market movement |
|
Covert & Overt Inks |
IR, UV, taggants, other visible and hidden inks |
Multi-layered authentication for rapid visual or forensic verification |
Combating counterfeit products requires swift action and reliable technology. With De La Rue as your authentication partner, you gain access to world-class tools that not only detect and deter fake goods but also support customer engagement, transparency, and supply chain resilience.
When your brand is under attack, speed is everything. De La Rue’s solutions deliver the tools you need to respond quickly, decisively, and globally.
Get in touch to learn how De La Rue can help you secure every product, every time.