The e-WAK® from Guala Closures, the first NFC aluminium closure, made such an impression on the judges of this year’s Alufoil Trophy, the most important competition for innovation and new technological advances in aluminium foil organized by the European Aluminium Foil Association, that it was awarded a Discretionary Alufoil Trophy for all-round excellence.

The innovative technology introduced through e-WAK stood out in every category entered, both for the advantages offered to consumers and because it provides great marketing opportunities to wine cellars.

The e-WAK is a patent-pending closure that increases the potential of wine bottle caps, making it a great alternative for wineries using traditional corks. The e-WAK is based on a new smart technology that allows every bottle of wine to become a “connected bottle”: a chip positioned inside the closure can be read by enabled smartphones, providing consumers authenticity certification and extensive product information, engaging them in a direct and loyal relationship with the brand. On the other side, the wine brand owner receives important market data, consumer profiles and effective logistics traceability.

This innovative technology developed by Guala Closures can be extended to the alcoholic beverages market in general, enabling both bottles of wine and spirits to be “connected” thanks to this intelligent technology, already available for many kinds of closures.

Marco Giovannini, CEO of Guala Closures Group, explained:

“We are very proud to receive a special Discretionary Award for this year's Alufoil Trophy competition. Our company is constantly looking for innovative solutions and this recognition confirms that we are on the right track. e-WAK, designed for the international wine and spirits market, creates a direct relationship between producers and customers, while also offering highly secure anti-counterfeiting protection.”

Guala Closures has also developed an IOT platform (Internet of Things) to collect marketing data on consumers, making it possible to profile them according to their personal interests and preferences. The same platform geo-localises products, helping to reduce the abuses of the so-called grey or parallel markets. There is also a new platform, pending completion, based on Blockchain technology that will further improve the reliability level of authentication.