Illegal trade of counterfeit, look-alike, damaged and expired products is an ongoing problem for organisations across various industries. COVID-19 has led to serious consequences in our society and has further aggravated the menace of illegal trade. Due to increase in demand for essential products, fraudsters opportunistically prey on the fear of consumers and sell these products illegally to them. Consumers could fail to identify the differences between original and fake products which would result in them being victims of illegal trade. The consumers, on realising that they are being cheated, prefer not to buy such products, and this in turn affects organisations financially as well as their brand and reputation.
How KPMG in India helps?
KPMG in India helps undertake investigations to identify perpetrators of illegal trade and recommend preventive measures to mitigate such risks. It has experienced team of investigators (including former police officers, Indian Police Service, etc.) who have executed multiple brand protection engagements for leading organisations in India and overseas.
Brand protection services include:
- Counterfeit and look-alike products: reviews to identify existence, source (person involved in selling and manufacturing), quantum of counterfeit products available in the market and take necessary steps to reduce such counterfeiting
- Supply chain leakages - sales of damaged and expired products after tampering with the manufacturing date on the product packaging or repackaging of the products: supply chain investigations to identify existence, source and quantum of damaged and expired products sold in the market. Also, try to ascertain the leakage points and modus operandi of circulation of damaged and expired products in the market
- Sale and circulation of spurious food products: food safety assessments to identify possible violations of the requisite food safety and hygiene standards by food and beverage manufacturers, restaurants, franchisees, delivery partners and channel partners in the distribution chain.
