New blockchain platform for wine verifies authenticity, tokenises bottles

PROFESSIONAL services organisation EY has developed an e-commerce blockchain for Blockchain Wine's online TATTOO Wine Platform, which allows wine producers, distributors, logistics providers and insurance operators to trace the origin, quality and authenticity of new and vintage wines.

It will also allow the use of tokens to buy and sell wine, schedule and track shipments in real time, monitor warehousing and delivery, and arrange for and track insurance coverage of wine shipments.

A smart-contract capability on the blockchain provides a decentralised system for agreements between producers, logistics operators and insurance providers. This saves time and certifies that all data is available to the participants so as to ensure transparency.

This makes TATTOO the first e-commerce platform in the world enabled by blockchain, EY said in a media statement on Monday.

With the platform, Blockchain Wine will focus on markets in China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Singapore, where the consumption of European wines is expanding.

It uses EY's OpsChain blockchain solution, which enables companies to simplify supply chain management and integrate digital contracts, shared inventory information, pricing, invoicing and payments.

The TATTOO Wine blockchain allows participants to track each batch of wine to monitor and verify the authenticity and handling of the wine. Each bottle will be "tattooed" - or labelled - with a unique QR code. Scanning the QR code will produce information such as vineyards' names and locations, details such as the types of fertilisers used to grow the crops, and how each batch is transported for processing and delivery.

The TATTOO platform will contain more than 5,000 labels, including wines from France, Italy, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, South America and California.

It is supported by The House of Roosevelt, one of Asia's largest wine cellars, which will use the platform to sell wines directly from vineyards to hotels, restaurants, cafes and consumers, and facilitate wine sales from customer to customer for investment-grade wine-collecting purposes.

TATTOO stands for traceability, authenticity, transparency, trade, origin and opinion.

EY's OpsChain has helped tokenise more than 11 million bottles of wine for multiple clients, EY said on Monday. In addition to wine, EY clients are also tokenising chickens, eggs and other fresh produce using OpsChain.