Although non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been criticized early on, they have grown into one of the most prominent parts of Web3.
Over the last two years, businesses from various sectors have recognized the value of NFTs and have begun to leverage them to provide their customers with new experiences, perks, and opportunities.
This is also something BlockBar did. BlockBar is the premier NFT marketplace for wine and spirits that has shaken up the global beverage industry by linking bottles to NFTs.
Authenticity, transparency, and quality are at the core of BlockBar, which has already partnered with some of the biggest wine and spirits brands in the world, such as 1800 Tequila, Ardbeg Fon Fhòid, Patrón Tequila, and Glenfiddich.
Through NFTs, BlockBar is, in fact, able to ensure authenticity, prevent counterfeits, and allow holders to redeem physical bottles.
Even so, this could only be the beginning of what is to come in the not-so-distant future.
In order to gain a deeper understanding of BlockBar’s project, mission, and goals, we invited BlockBar Co-Founder & CEO Dov Falic for an informative Q&A session.
Here’s how it turned out!
1) What inspired you to combine liquors/spirits and NFTs?
Having been in the spirits industry for a number of years we noticed the issues consumers and brands were facing in the world of wine and spirits. At the same time, we were beginning to explore the world of NFTs and became instantly hooked.
We thought many brands were diving into the NFT space simply because they were trendy – but we saw a bigger picture. Our goal was to find a role for NFTs where they would solve a real problem we saw in the market – transparency, authenticity, quality assurance and storage – solving issues that consumers and brands typically face in the wine and spirits industry. While there are countless industries that can benefit from blockchain technology, the hurdles consumers face when purchasing liquor made introducing NFTs into the space particularly appealing to us.
We also saw an opportunity to offer the collecting and the gifting of wine and spirits to all demographics. We’re democratising the traditional wine and spirits industry and allowing everyone, anywhere in the world, to participate through NFTs. This is revolutionary and something that could not have been done before BlockBar.com, and we expect to see an uptick in high-end spirits investments. We feel we are introducing the younger demographic to luxury spirits and the older demographic to NFTs.
2) What are the key benefits of tightening bottles to NFTs? Why should anyone purchase them?
There are many benefits to utilise and take advantage of that have never been seen in the luxury space before, predominantly the access and authentic safeguarding it offers. We only partner directly with the luxury brands themselves, and therefore the NFTs serve as a digital certificate of authenticity, eliminating any concern for counterfeits. Everything is on the Ethereum blockchain and buyers can trace ownership all the way back to each brand’s distillery itself.
Buyers can trade their NFT anytime on the BlockBar.com marketplace or burn their NFT and redeem the physical bottle directly. The product is only shipped twice no matter how many times the product changes ownership. Once from the brand owner to our bonded secure facility in Singapore and once when the final consumer is ready to enjoy their product. This gives the ability for consumers around the globe to transact and invest with one another and removes the concern of authenticity, importation, and storage.
Furthermore, as much as possible, we aim to offer exclusive products with ‘money can’t buy experiences’, building a community of new collectors and established connoisseurs. Regardless of the type of liquid, we create an environment where anyone can collect directly from brands to have authentic and verified products.
3) Do you want to tell us about any of your major accomplishments since launching your NFT marketplace?
Since launch a year ago, we’ve released 27+ product drops (several of which have sold out almost instantaneously) and have worked with many of the world’s largest luxury wine and spirits brands, including William Grant & Sons, Diageo, LVMH, Pernod Ricard, Sazerac, Beam Suntory, Rémy Cointreau and Bacardi.
We were also shortlisted for the prestigious LVMH 2022 Innovation Award at the VivaTech in Paris and are now also a member of the conglomerate’s La Maison des Start-ups.
4) How do you see the NFT market evolving over the next three to five years?
People don’t realise just how big this industry is and in our eyes it is still undervalued. The goal is to introduce more consumers into the world of Web3 and to expand wine and spirits collecting and investing to the masses. High-end spirits and wine outperformed gold and the S&P 500. The number of people who have started collecting in this category has grown exponentially, yet access to these exclusive collections is still incredibly difficult and collecting/investing has always been difficult due to the issues with storage, importation and authenticity. This is where NFTs play a huge role in the future of the industry. Offering NFTs is the best way to show transparency and guarantee authenticity to all buyers.
Fractionalised ownership will also grow in appetite in the future. At BlockBar, we sold a Penfolds cask to a new type of cask collector: a group of friends who got together to buy a cask of a wine brand they love. The ability to fractionalise ownership with tokens is another reason why NFTs make so much sense for this industry. The other interesting part about casks is you can own a collection without having it physically and are able to sell that onwards with relative ease before bottling.
Gifting luxury spirits and wine has been worth billions of dollars for many years but only very recently has the giving of NFTs become a phenomenon, with NFTs becoming a $40bn market in 2021 (according to Chainalysis). Expect to see luxury spirits brands digitise their gifting offering with NFTs in the future.
Want to see more content like this? Follow us!
This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute educational/teaching advice. Although we strive to provide accurate general information, the content presented here is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice, investment advice, trading advice, or any other advice.
