- Scottish gin distillery Roehill Springs has initiated a groundbreaking blockchain project to ensure transparency in its water sourcing
- Through this endeavor, the distillery offers customers comprehensive details about the water’s quantity, quality, and origin.
- By scanning a QR code on the bottle, consumers can access transparent information about the water and other ingredients used in the gin.
Gin distillery Roehill Springs, located in Moray, Scotland, has embarked on a pioneering blockchain-based initiative to ensure transparency regarding the water used in crafting its spirits. Roehill Springs aims to provide customers with detailed insights into the quantity, quality, and origin of the water employed in its gin production process, something that can be achieved using a variety of technologies and represented transparently on the blockchain. Customers will be able to scan a QR code on the bottle and receive information about the water and other ingredients used to create their drink.
IoT + Blockchain = Quality Gin
Roehill’s innovative endeavor has been made possible through a collaboration with CENSIS, Scotland’s innovation center for sensing, imaging, and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, and TrackGenesis, an Aberdeen-based app developer.
By leveraging IoT sensor-based flow meters installed at both the spring on the family farm and the distillery, Roehill Springs can monitor and track water usage accurately.
The data collected by these sensors is transmitted to a smartphone and tablet application via Bluetooth and is securely stored on a private blockchain, ensuring tamper-proof and immutable records. Each bottle of Roehill Springs gin is labeled with a QR code, granting customers access to comprehensive information about the water source and other ingredients.
Transparency is Key for Roehill
Leveraging blockchain technology allows Roehill to mitigate the time, errors, and costs associated with manual data entry while maintaining the integrity and authenticity of the information provided to consumers. Roeheill says that the initiative not only enhances transparency but also underscores its commitment to utilizing locally sourced ingredients and practicing environmental sustainability.
Duncan Morrison, co-owner of Roehill Springs Distillery, told Scottish Finance News that the combination of IoT and blockchain was “the right way forward for enhancing the transparency of what we do” and added that the company was looking for other emerging technologies to help increase its transparency with customers and reduce its environmental footprint.
Roehill is far from the first alcohol producer to turn to the blockchain: alcohol manufacturers have been using blockchain technology for over five years to offer customers insights into what they are drinking.
