June 17, 2018 - The Montenegrin Institute for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development began the implementation of the HoneyTag project aimed at protecting the brand and improving the quality of honey in Montenegro.
According to the report from the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, HoneyTag is designed to use TagItSmart (TIS, www.tagitsmart.eu) technology to protect the brand and improve the quality of honey in Montenegro: “The solution will be tested in partnership with the Alliance of Beekeeping Organizations and through cooperation with local beekeeping organizations from the municipalities of Šavnik, Žabljak and Plužine, which are in the process of obtaining the label of geographical origin for Durmitor Honey.”
As the representatives from the Institute explained: “The Pilot Project HoneyTag aims to provide a mechanism for protecting/testing the authenticity of bee products to Montenegrin honey producers and at the same time ensuring the safety of honey and reducing product counterfeiting. The HoneyTag pilot project is designed to use TagItSmart (www.tagitsmart.eu) technology. Each label will contain a combination of QR code and functional ink to confirm the originality and quality of the product. In addition to markers, along with the mobile application and cloud platform, unique identification and tracking of each jar of honey and mechanism for combating counterfeiting and food safety control will be provided.” It is expected that the implementation of the HoneyTag pilot project will be of assistance to all beekeeping organizations and beekeepers in Montenegro, and that they will adopt the mentioned technology and use it to protect their brand. HoneyTag is funded by the Horizon 2020 Scientific Research and Technological Development Fund.
Within the planned activities, workshops were organized on June 14th and 15th in Šavnik, Plužine, and Žabljak, where the organizers presented the objectives of the pilot project and the next steps to beekeepers from the local associations of the Durmitor region. The participants were addressed by Vladimir Radulović, technical secretary of the Federation of Beekeepers of Montenegro. He explained that “each honey bee will be labeled with smart labels representing a combination of QR code and functional ink. In addition to the markers, together with the mobile application, will be a unique identification and tracking of each jar of honey.” After that, Gorica Ćurčić, project manager of IPER, presented the research of the market for bee products in Montenegro. Dr. Marko Simeunović, from the Faculty of Information Systems and Technologies, University of Donja Gorica, spoke about the benefits of TagItSmart solutions as well as the process of functioning of the mentioned technologies.
