Spectra Systems Corp (LON:SPSY) bucked the trend on a grim Wednesday in London, with shares surging after Zhejiang Tobacco inked a deal which will see the Chinese cigarette giant use Spectra’s TruBrand smartphone authentication product on its packaging.
TruBrand allows consumers to use an app on their phone to confirm the authenticity of a product, in this case, tobacco, which is one of the most counterfeited products around the globe.
No financial details were given, but AIM-quoted Spectra said its technology would be incorporated into as many as 8mln packs of Zhejiang’s premium Liquan Yunduan cigarettes.
While that may sound like a large number of cigarettes, the order is more of a test-run, which Spectra will use to test and refine its product before it is potentially rolled out for use in billions of packets further down the line.
“We are delighted that Zhejiang Tobacco has decided to increase their commitment to the technology from large-scale manufacturing testing to introducing the technology to the market with a very sought after high-end tobacco product for sale primarily in China,” said chief executive Nabil Lawandy.
“We are optimistic that this first launch with one of the highest value cigarette brands in China will lead to the adoption of TruBrandTM across larger volume product lines, that could downstream result in over a billion units annually from this supplier alone.”
Shares zipped higher by 14.2% to 120.5p on Wednesday morning.