History
During the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in 2020 the Cardano Foundation accepted a proposal to implement a data connector for a third party track and trace that utilizes blockchain — specifically the Cardano blockchain.
Later that same year, the Cardano Foundation liaised with one of their collaborators in the Country of Georgia, Andrew Thornhill and together they came up with a plan to identify and track bottles of wine that were being shipped from Georgia to the world.
Andrew Thornhill selected an up-and-coming family winery Baia’s Wine and together created a project whereby 5,000 bottles of wine would be linked to the Cardano blockchain through a web connected with Scantrust. The project was implemented in selected shipments in 2020.
When applicable data on the bottles was able to be tracked, the project was deemed an enormous success.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia learned about the project and asked Andrew Thornhill to make a presentation to the government. After a demonstration of the project was made, the Minister ordered a pilot project in late 2021 for about 100,000 bottles of Georgian wine.
In 2022, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, along with the LEPL National Wine Agency of Georgia selected the region of Bolnisi, Georgia to be the beneficiary of the pilot project. Bolnisi is particularly interesting as the region is located near the oldest known wine artifacts in the world and the town of Bolnisi has a unique history in that it was originally founded by Swab settlers in the early 19th century where German winemaking techniques are used still today.
In September 2022, the Cardano Foundation, the LEPL National Wine Agency of Georgia, and the Wine Bolnisi Association signed the memorandum of understanding;
Plans were made to identify and track around 100,000 bottles of wine in this new pilot — utilizing wine produced in 2023. Thirty wineries signed up to be part of this pilot and the Cardano Foundation along with the National Wine Agency of Georgia and the Wine Bolnisi Association began to officially obtain data, media and train the wine makers in this new technology.
The Cardano Foundation and the National Wine Agency of Georgia also embarked on a multi-million dollar project to digitize the Georgian wine quality certificates and export documentation. This involved Cardano IT teams embedding new software that allows for the National Wine Agency to digitally identify and sign documents and certificates that relate to Georgian wine making and exporting.
In 2023, the Georgian Wine Agency of Georgia asked for the pilot project to be expanded to around 1 million bottles, the Cardano Foundation responded with a promise to complete the development of the software system for the Agency to support that software through 2024 and to assist in a full technology transfer to a corporate entity that can continue development of that software for the National Wine Agency of Georgia and potential new clients.
The founders then created the company Proof of Origin, an independent company that specializes in track and trace technology that utilizes public blockchain. The founders raised capital to complete the 1 million bottle project in Georgia and to support the technology that is embedded at the National Wine Agency of Georgia.