$ADA: Georgian Wine Is Going on the Cardano Blockchain

On Thursday (September 15), Cardano Foundation announced that it will collaborate with Georgia’s National Wine Agency, the Bolnisi Winemakers Association, and Scantrust to build a Cardano-powered solution to “ensure the quality and authenticity of Georgian wine.”

 Cardano Foundation is “an independent Swiss-based non-profit that oversees and supervises the advancement of Cardano.” It is the legal custodian of the Cardano brand and it collaborates with IOG and EMURGO to “ensure that Cardano is being developed and promoted as a secure, transparent, and accountable solution for positive global change.” Cardano Foundation “sets the direction for decentralized economic empowerment, working with regulators in different jurisdictions to shape blockchain legislation and commercial standards, and empowering the Cardano community to leverage the Cardano protocol to solve real-life problems.”

According to Cardano Foundation’s press release, “the four partners will develop a flexible, public track and trace solution to strengthen Georgia’s international reputation as a premium wine producer.”

The press release went on to say

“The partnership, spearheaded by the Cardano Foundation, will support individual wineries by developing a shared, scalable platform that is cost-effective for winemakers and increases customer engagement. A pilot program will be expanded in the Bolnisi region, serving both local and export markets. It will include up to 100,000 bottles of wine harvested during the Autumn 2022 period and subsequently bottled during Spring 2023. The bottles will carry a special label with a unique and secure QR code that allows consumers to check the authenticity of products and learn all about their history. 

“Additionally, the National Wine Agency will use the Cardano blockchain to create public, verifiable records from existing wine certification data on wine targeted for export markets.“

Mel McCann, Vice President of Engineering, Cardano Foundation, had this to say:

“The Cardano Foundation prides itself on technical integration initiatives that foster the development of solutions for companies and systems of all kinds. This collaboration will develop a creative, cost-effective, and flexible certification and traceability system, which will provide transparency and authenticity for wineries and customers from point of harvest to point of consumption.“

Frederik Gregaard, CEO of the Cardano Foundation said:

“At the Cardano Foundation, we are focused on developing secure, transparent, and accountable solutions for positive impact. This collaboration between Bolnisi Winemakers Association, Scantrust, and the Georgian National Wine Agency is a perfect example of blockchain being used to solve a real-world problem—enhancing trust. We look forward to working with the Georgian wine industry over the coming years to showcase how the Cardano blockchain can improve traditional enterprise.“

And Guram Avkopashvili, Founder, Bolnisi Winemakers Association, stated:

“Our goal is to produce and export 12 million bottles of wine in Bolnisi in 10 years. Currently we produce a total of 200,000 bottles of wine, which we sell to the Georgian, European, US, Australian, and Chinese markets. If we are to grow beyond this we must enhance trust in our products. As such, this track and trace solution on Cardano is fundamental to us achieving our goal.“