Today reports on a new announcement of a project from blockchain firm VeChain which will work with an Australian winemaker to create verifiable blockchain wine identification systems.
With these types of technologies in place, perhaps wine connoisseurs will soon be tagging wine bottles with their smartphones after declaring a certain vintage to confirm that an import or other bottle is authentic.
A press release from VeChain August 6 shows that China is a major wine consumer, and a market where wine verification could be very much in demand.
“According to the Research Report on Wine Import in China, 2019-2023, China imported $3.91 billion worth of wine in 2018, up by 6.50 percent year on year,” wrote VeChain spokespersons. “According to VINEXPO, China will become the world’s second-largest wine consumer by 2023 with a market value estimated to be worth $23 billion.”
Citing wine fraud in China, VeChain suggests the blockchain system can help.
“Built on the VeChain ToolChain, a revolutionary one-stop BaaS platform designed by VeChain, WTP took advantage of the strengths of blockchain, IoT devices, and mobile devices to keep track of the entire lifecycle of wine from wineries to distributors,” spokespersons wrote. “So far, the 20-plus wine products imported by D.I.G. have gone live on the platform, and one-third of that was imported by the company. According to D.I.G.’s statistics, the wines enjoyed an average of a 10% increase in sales after implementing the solution, resulting from enhanced consumer confidence.”
VeChain’s effort is not unique in some ways – various firms have talked about instituting wine blockchain systems, including big retailer Overstock.com.
Even though wine isn’t perishable the way that some food and drink products are, the idea is that blockchain would play a significant role by helping to verify age, something that’s important to buyers.
This news also relates to how blockchain technology can be applied to cold chain logistics and much more, making it a multipurpose retail solution that according to its proponents fits the zeitgeist.
We’ll keep reporting new applications of blockchain to the food and drink industry.