Date£º
2014-10-23 09:51 Source£º
thedrinksbusiness Author:
Tom Bruce Gardyne Translator:
In its quest to simplify and speed up fine wine trading, Liv-ex have just introduced a system to check the condition of individual bottles.
While the publishing industry has long used ISBN codes to identify books, it was only in 2011 that Liv-ex created a similar system for the wine trade. Known as the Liv-ex Wine Identification Number, or LWIN, it has been ¡°part of a journey to make trading easier for everyone,¡± said Ashley Hopkins, head of logistics at Liv-ex whose latest innovation is the SIB (standard in-bond) Passport.
¡°What the Passport is trying to identify electronically is whether the wine is in good condition or not,¡± Hopkins told the drinks business. ¡°It is like a seal of approval for the merchant or end consumer that the stock has been checked independently.¡± Checks include that the wine is filled to the right level, has good labels and is in its original case.
Whereas it might take a warehouse a week to provide a photographic proof of a wine¡¯s condition, the new system should definitely speed up the process reckons Hopkins. ¡°It¡¯s all to encourage electronic trading and avoid needless movement of stock. I joined Liv-ex in May 2011 when the 09¡¯s were released, and we were literally seeing the same wines coming in and going out. They used to go up the motorway to Octavian, go over to Vinoth¨¨que and then back to us again.¡±