How – And Why – A Swiss Firm in Miami Can Verify Your Products’ DNA
By Katelin Stecz
In 2020, Tiffany and Co. became the first global luxury jeweler to provide shoppers with certificates that show their diamond’s journey from mine to store. That same year, Levi’s and The R Collective joined together to create a 100 percent traceable denim collection. And last year, Unilever partnered with SAP to pilot a blockchain-based technology that traces the company’s palm oil supply.
Over the last few years, traceability and transparency have become increasingly important to consumers. Now, more than ever, shoppers want to know where a company’s product was made, how it was made, and what it’s made of. But going transparent can be
a difficult undertaking. Most companies don’t know their suppliers past tier one, and mapping supply chains can be like trying to unravel the Gordian knot.
Enter Product DNA.
Product DNA is a supply chain management and traceability advisory firm based out of Switzerland with an office in Miami. The company sells software that allows clients to “do the detective work” and map their supply chains.
Product DNA opened its North American operations in Canada in September 2022 and its Miami office at the beginning of this year. It’s also in the process of opening offices in Paris and Amsterdam. According to Managing Director of North American Operations Stephan Morin, Product DNA also has plans to expand to Germany and Italy.
The global company currently has 32 employees throughout its offices. The North American division alone has had revenues of around $20 million since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Morin says most of Product DNA’s clients are European, but the company hopes to gain more North American clients in the coming year. Currently, they have over 50, some of them household names like Hennessey and the perfume company Guerlain.
Like other traceability firms, Product DNA uses blockchain technology to trace a company’s product from raw materials to distribution. However, it also analyzes a company’s supply chains for risks to brand reputation and potential problems that could cause an unforeseen shortage.
After completing a comprehensive report, Product DNA supplies the transparency data for internal use by the client. That traceability data can then be published on Product DNA’s public platform, respect-code.org, at the client’s discretion.
Morin says companies should be investing in traceability and transparency, not only because it’s a great marketing tactic, but also because it makes sense. “Having better control over your data, your supply chain, the practices within your supply chain, and so on, just naturally makes a better-managed company because you know what’s going on,” he says.
As for marketing, Morin says transparency can draw customers to a company, especially Millennial and Gen Z consumers, but warns of greenwashing and cutting corners. Greenwashing is a tactic some companies use to make their practices seem more environmentally friendly than they actually are. In 2018, Starbucks was exposed for greenwashing when it launched its straw-less lid. Critics quickly pointed out that the new lid contained more plastic than the old straw and lid combination.
Product DNA assures that this doesn’t happen with their clients. “We’re helping companies connect with younger generations because they haven’t adjusted their marketing yet,” says David Corriveau, Product DNA’s vice president of engineering. “These younger generations have access to so much data, and they have the ability to call out greenwashing very quickly. That’s where we come in.”
