The advent of the Digital Product Passport (DPP), to protect your art and craft as a business

Why should we care?  

Are you sure you bought an authentic watch, or that your Sassicaia super-Tuscan red wine is really from the Bel Paese? What about your wedding ring? Where are the rocks from? And for you as a CEO or a business, how can you enrich your luxury and artisanal creations with some sort of digital lock, so that your fans are always protected, from the first purchase to all secondary marketplaces?

Welcome to the Digital Product Passport (DPP,) which is both a new EU Law and a unique opportunity to protect your collectibles or your dearest properties. Imagine purchasing a vintage wine or a designer piece of furniture.

With a simple gesture, you would bring your smartphone close to the product to discover, right on its screen its full story and certified information: where it was created, who worked on it, what materials were used, carbon footprint and how to dispose of it correctly. There are many players in the space, across all regions.

Give me one example: Made in Italy. 

One of them is Tokenance, an Italian Swiss tech boutique that is redefining the relationship between companies and consumers, with a focus on the Made in Italy and Made in Switzerland, of course. “In a world where authenticity and transparency are increasingly demanded, we transform the European regulatory obligation around the Digital Product Passport (DPP) into a strategic opportunity for Italian companies, especially for those representing the excellence of the Made in Italy abroad. Our North Star comes directly from our manifesto: transparency is the new and only business currency,” says Fulvio Magni, who leads the Tokenance Team.

What’s the DPP, again? 

Introduced by the EU Regulation on Ecodesign for Sustainable Products (ESPR) which came into force in 2024, the DPP is, in a nutshell, a digital identity card that every product marketed in Europe (thus, it affects any region wanting to do business there and all marketplaces as well, including amazon, Shein, Temu) will need to have within just a few years, and in all cases before 2030. Accessible via QR code or an NFC tag, it launches a web app, usually, and it provides certified information on origin, supply chain, environmental impact, and repairability. Starting in 2027, sectors such as textiles, footwear, batteries, and wood will need to be the first to comply with this obligation, which will progressively extend to all product categories. For many companies, this might seem like an additional bureaucratic burden. The DPP can become a lever to build deeper relationships with consumers and strengthen competitive positioning. “We need a complexity-free approach that makes technology accessible and useful. It’s not about chasing the latest tech trend but starting from the real needs of brands and SMEs to transform complexity into simplicity. Businesses of the future will need to turn compliance into a competitive advantage, creating a bridge between the potential of AI, blockchain, and Web3, to meet concrete business needs,” says Magni.

What tech do we need? 

The most advanced solutions are based on blockchain, like Cardano or Circular. In the case of Tokenance, AI is also used. An AI assistant, customized according to the brand’s identity, answers questions, offers instructions, helps with after-sales service, and creates a continuous dialogue with the customer. The platform also offers an intuitive dashboard, which allows them to manage supply chain, collect real-time data, and obtain strategic insights for marketing and operations.

Conclusions 

It’s mandatory, if you want to business in the EU Region, as a brand, distributor or seller. It’s coming as a must by 2030. Whatever Blockchain and AI solution you may pick, it needs to be easily plugged into your legacy, Web 2.0 tech-stack, and it needs to be scalable (cheap and high thruput). Good news: we have the time and tech to make it. Better news: use the DPP as a way to capture data, talk to your fans, suggest cross-selling and up-selling, and especially co-create and reward those who are willing tom help you build a stronger company for the New Gen-s and the world of tomorrow.

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