BlockBar, a direct-to-consumer NFT platform for wine & spirits, aims to introduce more consumers into the world of Web3 and to expand wine and spirits collecting and investing to the masses, its Co-Founders said.

“We will continue to invest in our core markets covering the US, Asia, UK and pockets of Europe in 2023. Our goal is to reach one million users next year. We ship globally subject to local shipping restrictions and offer clear guidance on our website of the countries we do and do not ship to directly,” BlockBar Co-Founders Dov Falic and Samuel Falic told TechNode Global in a recent interview.“If a bottle owner is unable to ship to their country due to local laws, we offer pick up locations closeby or the opportunity to collect from our storage facility.”

According to them, 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,” they shared.

Founded in October 2021, BlockBar sells NFTs directly from luxury wines and spirits brands. Each NFT corresponds to an actual physical bottle, exclusive to BlockBar. Owners can resell, collect, gift, or at any point “burn” their NFT in exchange for the physical bottle, shipped from BlockBar’s secure facility in Singapore with 24/7 security, motion sensors, and temperature control.

BlockBar said it only partners directly with brand owners including LVMH, Diageo, Bacardi, Pernod Ricard, Sazerac, William Grant & Sons and more, and does not take collections from third parties or collectors. BlockBar also said it is democratizing access to luxury wines and spirits allowing anyone, anywhere in the world to participate, whilst offering bottle owners storage, insurance and a marketplace to re-sell their bottles purchased on its platform.

BlockBar claimed its proprietary smart contracts verify authenticity tracing every transaction directly back to the partnering brand, and its partnership with top cyber- and crypto-security firms ensures that transactions are fully protected and transparent.

It is also worth noting Dov and Samuel are part of the next generation of the Falic Group, owners of US-based Duty Free Americas, Inc, the largest duty-free operation in the Western Hemisphere.

The Co-Founders also shared about BlockBar’s ambition and plans, and how NFT is disrupting the world of luxury spirits, among others.

Below are the edited excerpts:

Could you explain more about the ambition to create the world’s biggest marketplace for high-end drinks brands? How could the model easily being transferred to other luxury goods?

BlockBar is revolutionizing a very traditional wine and spirits industry because we are democratizing access, allowing everyone anywhere in the world to participate in the buying, collecting and investing of fine wine and rare spirits. We offer consumers exclusive luxury wine and spirits authenticated via blockchain, whilst offering storage, insurance, global shipping and a marketplace for reselling. Our vision is to be the world’s largest marketplace for luxury wine and spirits because this doesn’t currently exist in the market. We already partner directly with the world’s leading brands including Moet Hennessy, Diageo, Bacardi, Pernod Ricard, William Grant & Sons and more.

Does BlockBar have plans to expand into other luxury goods besides drinks?

Yes, our mission is to democratize access to luxury goods offering instant ownership, storage, delivery on demand and the flexibility to transfer. Naturally our mission will take us into new luxury verticals, watch this space.
Would like to know more about Blockbar’s expansion plans for 2023. Which are the countries or markets it is prioritizing and why? Any concrete plan yet? Would also like to know which are the countries/market BlockBar is able to ship the physical bottles to at the moment?

We will continue to invest in our core markets covering the US, Asia, UK and pockets of Europe in 2023. Our goal is to introduce more consumers into the world of Web3 and to expand wine and spirits collecting and investing to the masses. Our goal is to reach 1 million users next year. We ship globally subject to local shipping restrictions and offer clear guidance on our website about the countries we do and do not ship to directly. If a bottle owner is unable to ship to their country due to local laws, we offer pick-up locations close by or the opportunity to collect from our storage facility.

When it comes to spirits and alcoholic drinks, different countries will have different policies and taxes towards alcoholic drinks. Would like to know more about the legal compliance/regulatory and logistics part when an owner wants to redeem the physical bottle. Alcoholic drinks will be shipped out from Singapore?

Currently, all of our physical bottles are stored in our state-of-the-art storage facility in Singapore until the bottle owner decides to redeem the NFTs for the physical bottles. Once shipped, orders may be subject to local taxes and duties upon arrival in a bottle owner’s country and we recommend the bottle owner to contact their local customs office if they require further information.

What are the opportunities and potential BlockBar sees in the high-end spirits industry? How big is the market?

BlockBar is revolutionizing a very traditional industry with its offering. In fact, we are creating a completely new legacy with the buying and selling of fine wine and spirits. People don’t realize just how big this industry is and in our eyes, it is still undervalued. Our 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. We are excited for the future.

What are the challenges faced? How is the competition like? What is BlockBar’s competitive edge against others?

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.

We offer a number of unique selling propositions (USPs) by using blockchain technology and only partnering directly with brands to ensure wine and spirits bottles are 100 percent authenticated, eliminating any concern for counterfeits. Everything is on the Ethereum blockchain and buyers can trace ownership all the way back to each brands’ distillery itself. In addition, everything sold is exclusive to us, meaning the complete package cannot be found in any other retailers. We also store and insure the physical bottle in our facility until the bottle owner is ready to drink it or resell it on our marketplace.

We are seeing similar offerings pop-up in the wine industry, but none that can match our competitive offering or sell products directly from the brand owner.

How is NFTs disrupting the world of luxury spirits? Will this have a long lasting impact to consumers’ behaviour or it could be just a hype?

NFTs bring a huge amount of benefits to luxury wine and spirits brands, but only when they are asset backed which means they correspond to a physical bottle and the NFT basically proves ownership and authentication. The NFT proves ownership and the physical bottle can always be redeemed in exchange for the digital NFT. We are solving issues for not only crypto natives, but also traditional wine and spirit collectors.

We anticipate that more people will be introduced into the world of web3 in the next five to 10 years and we already have some incredible drops lined up for next year with major luxury wine and spirits brands.

Now that Blockbar is profitable, any sales target for 2023? Would the company need to raise funds in the short term? Could you disclose the details?

We are bootstrapped, however remain open to investment opportunities in the future. We are very excited about our future and project sales over $15 million in 2023 alone.

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