OwlQR launches QR code product platform for exporters

OwlQR has launched its live product information platform, which gives each product a QR code based on the GS1 Digital Link standard.

The New Zealand software company says the platform lets manufacturers and exporters store product information in one place and update it without changing packaging. It was previously in beta testing, and early customers include Taupō honey producer Honey Honey and tea brand The Tea Thief.

At the centre of the platform is GS1 Digital Link, a standard that places a product's Global Trade Item Number, or GTIN, inside a web address. When that address is encoded in a QR code, a checkout scanner can read the product identity while a shopper's phone opens online product information from the same code.

Businesses using OwlQR add a product, enter its details, and generate a code linked to a single product profile. They can then update that profile with revised test results, certificates, or label information without printing a new QR code on the pack.

The service is designed to avoid the need for an integration project or a developer. Existing codes remain active if a customer downgrades or cancels a plan, and product data remains available for export.

The platform was designed and built in New Zealand and is hosted in AWS's Sydney region. It also includes optional compliance modules for requirements including Halal, US FDA export, China GACC, and Amazon Transparency.

Early users

Honey Honey is among the first businesses using the system. The Taupō producer sells raw, BioGro-certified organic mānuka and native honey and faces extensive documentation requirements when exporting.

Honey sold as mānuka for export must meet the Ministry for Primary Industries' scientific definition and be tested batch by batch at a recognised laboratory. Some overseas markets also require an official export certificate with those results attached, alongside the organic certificate and market-specific labelling rules.

Artje Schrijvers of Honey Honey described the administrative burden of retrieving those records for buyers.

"We've always had the proof. Every batch is tested and all of our honey is certified organic," said Schrijvers. "The hard part has been keeping it in one place. When a buyer asked for a certificate or a test result, we'd go looking for it in folders and email threads. Then we'd do it again for the next one."

The company now uses the QR code on the jar to display test results and organic certification.

"Our honey sells on being raw and organic. Being able to show that, instead of just saying it on the label, is a big deal for a business our size," said Schrijvers. "And we didn't need an IT person to set it up."

Founders' experience

Both founders say their experience with export documentation shaped the service. Co-Founder and Director Carrick Graham previously took his TE WAI facial mist brand into overseas markets, while Co-Founder Tony Burt founded East Imperial tonics and exported beverages to more than 20 countries.

"When I took TE WAI offshore, I worked through each market's labelling and documentation requirements myself," said Graham. "Most manufacturers we talk to aren't short of information. It's just in too many places. One current record per product, and one code pointing to it, takes a lot of the scramble out of each shipment."

Burt said export requirements tended to multiply as brands entered more countries.

"At East Imperial, nearly every country we sold into had its own requirements," said Burt. "Brands shouldn't have to start again each time they enter a new market or a customer asks for evidence. The technology should take friction out, not add another system to manage."

Standards shift

The launch comes as retailers prepare for GS1's Sunrise 2027 target, under which point-of-sale systems are expected to be able to scan 2D barcodes, including QR codes. A GS1 Digital Link code can carry the GTIN needed for checkout while also linking to product information for shoppers and trading partners.

Structured product data is also becoming more important as markets including the European Union introduce digital product passport rules. Those requirements vary depending on the category of goods and the jurisdiction.

OwlQR is listed in the GS1 New Zealand solution provider directory. The platform is intended to help businesses organise and share product information, while responsibility for the accuracy of that information remains with the business using it.