The Scottish Universities Environmental Research Center (SUERC) of the University of Glasgow signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with blockchain firm Everledger to address fraud in the whisky industry. The partnership will implement Everledger’s Near Field Communication (NFC) tags to authenticated Scotch whisky bottles.
In 2018, the Scottish whisky market was valued at $4.97 Billion, with collectible bottles of single malt Scotch whiskies reaching £57.7 million ($76.94 million) in sales in 2019. SUREC researchers estimate that around 40% of those could be fake. From a sample of 55 bottles, researchers found 21 to be fake or distilled far more recently than the bottle claims.
At the beginning of the year, Everledger launched the blockchain-based anti-tamper bottle closures to prevent counterfeiting in the wine and spirits industry. The deal with SUERC will enable the research center to implement the technology to communicate the authenticity of Scotch whisky bottles to consumers, increasing trust and transparency in the market.
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