Badel 1862 Establishes Anti-Counterfeiting Service

Badel 1862 has established a special brand protection service that collaborates intensively with the Ministry of the Interior, the Customs Administration, and the State Inspectorate to combat the black market for alcoholic beverages. The reason for its establishment is cited as the protection of the health of its consumers, as well as its own business operations.

Badel 1962 emphasizes the importance of the action taken by the Ministry of the Interior and the Customs Administration, which has disrupted the chain of organized counterfeiting of the most popular and best-selling brands.

– In Croatia, the top products of Badel 1862 are most frequently counterfeited, such as Badel Pelinkovac, Badel Prima Brand, Lavov, and Vigor vodka. We estimate that between 5 to 10% of the total quantities sold on the market are counterfeits, which amounts to over a million bottles sold at markets, in smaller shops, and in some hospitality establishments. Therefore, we appeal to all our consumers to purchase and consume products at verified locations and to immediately inform us if they suspect the authenticity of a product – stated Badel 1862.

They also emphasize that, in addition to the health of citizens, illegal alcohol production jeopardizes the reputation of manufacturers, who therefore specifically mark their products and continuously introduce new protection systems.

Additionally, illegal producers of alcoholic beverages equip bottles with counterfeit labels for marking alcoholic beverages, thereby literally stealing from all Croatian citizens the amount of special tax on alcohol and alcoholic beverages, the amount of VAT, and other contributions. Considering that the share of contributions to the state in the price of counterfeited products amounts to almost 50% of their retail price, it is clear that counterfeiting is a very lucrative business. Such actions have also acquired the characteristics of criminal offenses of tax or customs evasion, counterfeiting of value marks, or counterfeiting of marks for the designation of goods, measures, and weights, as well as the production, procurement, possession, sale, or provision for use of means for counterfeiting.