Digitization Does Not Stop at the Swiss Wine Makers and Wine Cellars
It is a done deal in the German-speaking Swiss wine industry. The digital IT platform will be implemented. And this in the form of a SWISS WINE branded digital, holographic label. This opens undreamt-of possibilities for winemakers and wine cellars that have not been available until today. At its meeting on September 14th 2021, the board of the Swiss-German Wine Association BDW approved this project and decided to finance the pilot phase accordingly and thus the project was officially initiated.
Why?
The industry associations for Swiss wine enables their members, under the leadership of the Swiss-German Wine Association (BDW), to take advantage of all the digitalization opportunities and at the same time to promote Swiss wine at home and abroad with the goal to increase market share and to increase revenue & profits and thus sustainability for all Swiss Wine Makers in the long term.
The “SwissWine - Vision 2030” project pursues the following goals:
- The digitization of the entire wine value chain and the provision of a digitization platform based on blockchain technology for all Swiss winemakers and all subsequent processing stages.
- Creation of an "intelligent" digital consumer label with recognition value for all Swiss wines: the "Swiss Wine Seal of Approval"
- Easy access to sales promotion measures and (promotions, loyalty, competitions, digital marketing, social media, etc.) for every wine producer, large or small.
- Collection and analysis of "business intelligence data" in the entire supply and value chain.
- Increase in the market share of Swiss Wine in Switzerland and abroad.
What are the benefits of the winemakers and wineries?
- ADDED VALUE. To offer customers additional benefits that maintain or even increase added value.
- VISIBILITY. The winery and the background information of each wine are visible to the customer via a simple scan of the QR code on the label.
- INFORMATION LEAD. The customer is proactively provided with information about the product.
- TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANTAGE. With the label, the winemaker, like the wine cellar, will gain access to a state-of-the-are and open digitalization platform.
- FUNCTIONALITY. New functions will constantly be added to the app behind the label.
Pilot Phase Started
The project group of the Swiss-German Wine Industry Association entered the pilot phase with great anticipation and great expectations and gave the go-ahead for this project at the end of September last year. 8 wineries have already decided to take part in the pilot phase. The basic functions of the IT platform and the first 100,000 labels will be available immediately so that the first approx. 10,000 bottles will be labeled with the new “Swiss Wine Seal of Approval” and introduced into the market early this year (2022).
Says Jürg Bachofner, Managing Director of the BDW: "We are pleased that this far-reaching and groundbreaking project for the Swiss wine industry is finally kicked-off, and we hope that, over the next few years, we are able to welcome many of the Swiss wineries and cellars and a large portion of the 150 million of bottles of wine that they produce per year on this platform. "
In order to make the project known across Switzerland and abroad, numerous marketing and sales promotion activities are planned for the start of the market launch at the beginning of this year and throughout the coming years.
The Holographic Label: The "Swiss Wine seal of approval"
The “Swiss Wine Quality Seal” is a holographic security label that is printed with an individualized QR code. This means that every consumer can call up more information on each wine with a mobile phone. The hologram was developed by 3D AG based in Baar, in the canton of Zug.
Snezana Hunziker from 3D AG explains how the development works. “The production of a hologram is very complex and requires a lot of expertise. The complexity in production is reflected in the security standards of the labels. The infinite variety of colors that can be shown by the holographic structure gives our labels an attractive design and enchants the human eye with repeatedly recognizable effects. Combined with the exclusive Swiss Wine logo, the label becomes an attractive eye-catcher that reflects unmistakable Swissness and enhances every wine bottle with its visual presence."
Click to enlarge.
The Partners Behind the Project
3D AG
3D AG is an independent family-owned company based in Baar, Switzerland. The company has been producing banknote security features for over 30 years and specializes in the field of micro and nanotechnology. One of their core competencies is tailor-made security holography with the aim of fighting counterfeiting and protecting the intellectual property of its customers around the world. For more information, see www.3dag.ch .
Zimt AG
The digital blockchain-based IT platform for the Swiss Wine project is being implemented by Zimt AG, based in Zurich. ZIMT is a data certification platform that is based on blockchain technology and offers end-to-end digital traceability for food and beverage companies. Zimt's solution provides F&B companies with the ideal platform to securely record data about their products on their way through the supply chain in a digital format and to pass this information on to their distributors, retailers, government agencies, end customers and other partners. You can find more information about ZIMT here: www.zimt.co
Dr. Vlad Trifa, CEO of ZIMT AG says: “ZIMT is proud to be the software partner for this project and to issue a digital passport for every single bottle of Swiss wine that is operated and secured with blockchain technology - a world’s first, in particular on this scale! This e-pass allows consumers around the world to find out more about Swiss wines and their producers, to check the quality and environmental impact of their product, and to easily buy more of the Swiss wines they love. "
winemaker.com
The marketplace with more than 160 Swiss winemakers
The simple “onboarding” of the master data of the wineries and the individual wines on the platform is ensured by our partner winemaker.com. The winemaker.com platform enables a multilingual website content (German, French, Italian and English) and provides media data such as videos and images in any format compatible with any hardware device (PC, Laptop, Tablet, Mobile Phone).
Ambrosus.io
The Swiss Wine Digitalization Platform is based on a blockchain technology called Ambrosus. The Ambrosus network is a blockchain-based ecosystem optimized for IoT data transactions and supply chain management. Ambrosus' main focus is on improving supply chains, especially food and medicine, although the protocol can be applied to virtually any complex supply chain. The Ambrosus platform can be easily integrated into existing IoT devices and IT systems in order to digitize supply chain processes and increase their transparency. You can find more information about Ambrosus here: www.ambrosus.io
Sergii Grygoriev, Head of Business Development of Ambrosus, says about the project: “This project enables every Swiss winegrower, big or small, to digitize their wines in a simple way and to create a so-called "digital twin". All important data, such as certificates or laboratory reports, can be stored on the platform and assigned to each wine. Thanks to our partnership with Zimt AG and 3D AG, we are able to offer a fast and comprehensive digitization solution to all Swiss wine businesses. All companies that decide to take part in this project benefit from many useful functions, such as the activation of sales channels, the monitoring of parallel imports, automated product recall and other functions for intelligent customer loyalty (e.g. VIP memberships, direct sales, Promotions, cross-selling, etc.). At the same time, the member companies and the Swiss Wine association gain valuable business intelligence information from the scan and demographic user data - and all of this with a smart holographic label with an individual QR code on each wine bottle."
Source: German-Swiss Wine Association
The preceding press release was provided by a company unaffiliated with Packaging Impressions. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of Packaging Impressions.
