Petjust, the exclusive Chinese distributor of Petcurean NOW FRESH and GO! SOLUTIONS pet food from Canada, initiated an anti-counterfeit label system for the pet food company, featuring a unique design and print method to prevent forgery.
Events leading to the packaging enhancements
The changes come as a result of January 2021 online reports that a number of pet cats died after eating GO! Nine Kinds of Meat purchased sometime in November 2020 from Tmall.com, a leading Chinese shopping platform owned by the Alibaba Group. Customer complaints apparently flooded the website of Petjust demanding answers and accountability.
Asked to shed light on the issue, Petcurean said it takes the situation seriously and can confirm that the lot codes involved had favorable test results prior to leaving its facility.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we are conducting additional in-market testing on the implicated product,” the company said. “All test results received to date have been favorable and will continue to be posted on the Petjust website.”
Petcurean's authorized partner in Hong Kong and Macau, Petgo Trading Limited, also came out with a statement to emphasize the difference between the official products it carries and the subject of complaints. In a January 27, 2021 Facebook post, Petgo said the products in question that were sold in mainland China were called FIT + FREE Chicken, Turkey + Duck Recipe under the GO! brand. Petgo, on the other hand, only carried GO! SOLUTIONS CARNIVORE Grain Free Chicken, Turkey + Duck Cat Food Recipe and are bagged differently than the alleged counterfeit versions.
Tmall has long removed the implicated cat food products from its online shelves.
A foolproof labeling system
Petcurean's anti-counterfeit label for its bags of pet food features a logistics code, bar code, QR code, 20-digit random anti-counterfeit serial code and Petjust's contact information.
“We are aware that there are some counterfeit versions of NOW FRESH and GO! SOLUTIONS in the Chinese market, so Petjust have initiated an anti-counterfeit label that will appear on all genuine NOW FRESH and GO! SOLUTIONS pet food bags,” said Petcurean in a statement on its website. “All bags of NOW FRESH and GO! SOLUTIONS pet food that feature the Petjust anti-counterfeit label are genuine Petcurean product while the authenticity of any bags without the anti-counterfeit label cannot be guaranteed.”
With the unique label, each pet food bag that comes and goes out of the warehouse will be scanned for name, product specification, expiration date, retailer name, credits and other information. Customers can scratch the anti-counterfeit coat off the label and input the serial code on Petjust's website to verify authenticity.
Petjust’s anti-counterfeit label system should complement Petcurean's in-house and third-party lab testing to ensure its pet food products are safe. Petcurean said there have been no other issues related to the implicated lots in any other market where the products were sold.
