Omniaz to bring Blockchain & IoT Experience for Wine Consumers

The beverage technology (BevTech) company Omniaz, in partnership with Wine Connection, will announce the launch of the DRNK mobile application (Drink, Rewards, Network, Knowledge), Asia's first 'Smart Bottle' experience for alcohol beverage consumers on 1 December 2018. Leveraging Blockchain technology and IoT, the application will be part of a decentralized end-to-end platform that the company is currently developing together with major tech industry leaders such as CymMetrik, NEM, NXP Semiconductors, ProximaX and Smartrac.

Through this app, users will be able to access detailed information of their purchase for all wine, beer, and spirits, which will be authenticated on the blockchain. By purchasing specially selected smart-tagged bottles (smart bottles), users will also enjoy targeted rewards and benefits such as coupons and credits, by simply tapping or scanning the tags via NFC or QR.

Omniaz will release its first wave of Smart Bottles (180,000 wine bottles) across Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea, in partnership with Wine Connection. Singapore is slated as the first stop of this pilot project with bottles to roll out on shelves across all 22 outlets. Smart bottles will be made available in retail stores and restaurants, with redemption of rewards applicable at all stores, both online and offline. As part of the official campaign, the launch will be announced in conjunction with the 20th Anniversary of Wine Connection, who will be holding their inaugural Wine Fair on 1 & 2 December 2018.

Lukasz Piotrowski, Founder of Omniaz explained at the launch, "This is just our pilot phase. Moving forward, Omniaz is planning to release over one million bottles across Asia, through other strategic partners, including craft beers and spirits between January and June 2019."

DRNK is the first element of an integrated platform, that is designed to tackle several key challenges in the traditional alcoholic beverage industry. Among the challenges is counterfeit alcohol, which makes product authenticity and provenance often difficult. Counterfeit alcohol is estimated to make up to 30% of issues leading to financial and health consequences. Parallel markets and fraud are also often leading to brand damage. Aside from these challenges, companies often struggle with keeping their consumers engaged. DRNK offers companies an additional way to build a strong connection with consumers while delivering strategic consumer insights and other important information to the producer who in return can not only optimize its marketing but also business strategy.

Through technology, Omniaz intends to fill that gap with their platform and app, thus opening up possibilities within the consumer and B2B markets across the supply chain. While the terms Blockchain and IoT have been around for a while, real life applications within industries such as Food and Beverage remain rare. Omniaz leverages the power of Blockchain and IoT to solve industry challenges and create an integrated ecosystem tailored for both businesses and consumers. "Blockchain is the underlying technology we'll be using for product authenticity along the supply-chain and for consumers. Cash rewards through OMZ credits as incentivization and rewards for consumers in form of coupons, is one way we help connect them directly to businesses, and vice versa," said Lukasz Piotrowski.