Handelsblatt Italien. 16. sept. 22. Engl. translation,
Narravero, a brand and a technology platform that tells the story of a product in full transparency, providing all the information related to the product with the help of a chip and with a simple smartphone: Starting from the origin, the value chain, the materials used and their characteristics, to the use and repair, in case it becomes necessary. In addition to the information, blockchain technology guarantees the accuracy of all details. This creates entirely new and truly sustainable relationships between producers such as manufacturers and consumers, and opens up new sales opportunities.
Thomas Rodding, 50, CEO of Ziffereins Group, founded in 2014, is the German entrepreneur who discovered the world of algorithms when he was 15 years old, thanks to his father, a mathematician. From this, he has developed the business of a lifetime. That means information technology in all its facets: Interoperability and design of data models, interface systems, storage, cloud, digital standards, for which he is a government expert and advisor to the European Commission.
Narravero is his latest creation, which will debut in October 2019. Rodding says he spent five years developing the digital product passport. With a chip embedded in a button, shoe sole, wine bottle, meat package or bicycle wheel, the "talking" label can give all the information of a product without any special infrastructure, but just by approaching a smartphone: With a simple click on the smartphone, it tells its story, its quality and manufacturing steps and establishes an immediate contact with the manufacturer. This guarantees authenticity and genuineness and protects against counterfeiting and imitation.
In the new world of the Green Deal, organic products and increasing environmental and social responsibility, consumers are increasingly paying attention to what they buy, its environmental impact, value chains and the protection of human rights. Transparency of production and products will therefore become an inevitable "must" at all levels, a new culture embedded in our societies, says Rodding.
This is the starting point for the digital product passport business, which could become a mandatory tool for all production, including mass production, in a few years. European legislation on food traceability, the fight against deforestation and the directive on eco-design and transparency of value chains also point in this direction.
Two years after its launch, Narravero has already won over around 50 small and medium-sized companies in Germany, mainly from the food industry. In the United Kingdom, the company is working with a wine producer that wants to establish a direct relationship with customers.
But Italy is the market Rodding is most interested in now. The invisible talking digital label was recently unveiled in Florence, where Rödding is working with Tommaso Melani, CEO of shoe manufacturer Stefano Berner and fashion label Vestrucci.
For Rödding it is a first step into a market full of small and medium companies, often artisan and family run, that have a treasure of excellence in terms of know-how, profile and high quality products. All these are qualities that can be enhanced by the transparency guaranteed by Narravero, even in the face of large groups that compete mainly on price.
With its extremely rich heritage of controlled denominations of origin, from food to wine, and the many fashion brands established worldwide, Italy has great potential and is an ideal outlet. That, at least, is the digital bet of Thomas Rodding and his Product Passport.