Shanghai Startup Vechain To Verify Wine Origin And Fight Counterfeits Using Blockchain
On the 24th May, south china morning post reported that VeChain, a Shanghai-based blockchain startup, is trying out a blockchain application verifying wine supply chain and fighting counterfeits.
The Chinese wine industry is worth $2.8 bln, yet as indicated by the South China Morning Post aphorisms like, “the Chinese gulp down more ‘French’ wines than France makes” and “at least half of the Chateau Lafite-Rothschild consumed in China is fake,” have weakened public trust in the quality of the product.
Part of the initiative includes VeChain working with retailer Shanghai Waigaoqiao Direct Imported Goods (DIG) and testing the products of French producer Pierre Ferraud and Fils. Apparently, The company signed a deal to deliver the French producer’s Beaujolais Nouveau red wine confirmed on its blockchain platform which is connected to DIG as terms of retail.
Consumers can get fundamental information about the wine, including winery details, grape variety, an 18-digit Chinese customs declaration number, dates when a bottle was taken from the storage and delivered to a bonded warehouse in Shanghai, and when it was provided to DIG outlets in the city. This can simply be done by a scanning a QR barcode. Fu Yu, an associate at VeChain, commented on the project:
“The beauty of blockchain is that shoppers can see information about the whole life cycle of a bottle of wine from various sides, including vineyards, logistics, and retailers.”
The startup intends to integrate a designated near field communication (NFC) chip close to the wine stopper when it comes to premium wines. When the chip gets broken it will not be able to read or write data on its blockchain anymore.
10,000 blockchain-tracked wine bottles have been sent to DIG, and the number is required increase ten times in 2019. Fu also said that VeChain is engaged with settlements with an Italian vineyard about using blockchain to establish a foothold in China. A similar offer has additionally been made to wineries in Australia and South America.
JD.com, the big Chinese E-commerce started executing a blockchain application to track the supply chain of its meat sales in March. JD began the activity to support consumer confidence in the provision of meat items. As indicated by the customer’s technology officer at JD, the new blockchain-based system will promise clients that they have acquired “safe, reliable products for their families.’’
A month ago, Cointelegraph reported that Walmart is utilizing a blockchain application to track its food items, enabling them to verify product information, and in addition diminish waste and improve contamination management and straightforwardness.
