September 2, 2020

“What the Tech?!” with FOMENT, Australia’s Wine & Tourism Revolution

By Angela Oemcke

Being in the #winetech game with our connected packaging solution, it’s safe to say the team at Cellr love talking innovation in the wine industry- and we think you will too. In this installment of “What the Tech?!” we got chatting with Carla Dias Wadewitz and Darren Oemcke, Co-Facilitators of the FOMENT accelerator. In 2019 Cellr took part in the FOMENT accelerator, and would encourage others to do the same as it was an invaluable experience, you can find out why below.

To learn more about the FOMENT program visit their website here, and follow them on LinkedIn to stay in the loop.

Tell us about FOMENT, what sparked the idea to create a world-first accelerator program for tech in the wine and tourism industries? 
WISA, NVI and Hydra Consulting all wanted to see tech grow in the South Australian wine and tourism space. Each were developing their own initiatives and saw the great opportunity of working together. We combined our strengths into a single effort to create what was initially a South Australian accelerator and is now a globally unique wine and tourism tech accelerator.   

Why does Australia need a program like FOMENT, and who should be getting involved? 
FOMENT works with companies that enable our great tourism and wine businesses. We want these enabling technologies to be endemic to Australia so that we’re more efficient in production and logistics, we’re more successful in applying technology and we’re more engaged with consumers than anywhere else in the world. 

FOMENT works with companies that enable our great tourism and wine businesses. We want these enabling technologies to be endemic to Australia so that we’re more efficient in production and logistics, we’re more successful in applying technology and we’re more engaged with consumers than anywhere else in the world. 

We are increasing the development of wine and tourism tech startups in Australia and potentially attracting international startups to move here. We also aim to ensure that international tech startups are familiar with the Australian wine and tourism sectors so that anything that is developed overseas will be native to Australian users. Finally, we want to help Australian start-ups scale up their tech and increase their exports to other countries which will have the positive effect of creating jobs for the Australian economy.

In addition, we want to increase the use of tech in Australian businesses, which is why we created the Wine and Tourism Meets Tech initiative. 

We’re very keen to get the industry as a whole involved, not just the start-ups participating in the program. Industry adoption is a huge part of the FOMENT vision, so we encourage anyone with an interest in winetech and tourism tech to get involved. With the Barossa region as one of our sponsors this year, we are working hard on getting engagement between that region and these companies participating in FOMENT. 

We want wine and tourism to be at the forefront of international industry developments and FOMENT is allowing us to implement new tech here in Australia first.

As well as winetech startups, how does the wine and tourism industry benefit from the FOMENT program? 
Early access to new technology is a huge benefit for the Australian wine and tourism sectors. We want wine and tourism to be at the forefront of international industry developments and FOMENT is allowing us to implement new tech here in Australia first. Technology is developing at a faster pace than ever before and Australian businesses need to be at the forefront of this continuous change.

Australia faces a huge digital deficit in wine and tourism tech. By that we mean that companies, particularly SMEs are behind their international competitors in utilising platforms and digital tools to build their businesses. FOMENT has programs specifically targeted at tech adoption by SMEs and a focus on technology that is readily utilisable by them.

Australia faces a huge digital deficit in wine and tourism tech. By that we mean that companies, particularly SMEs are behind their international competitors in utilising platforms and digital tools to build their businesses.

Finally, getting the industry involved in mentoring, meeting and telling its stories to these local and international startups, means that the tools will be developed in ways that are easy for local companies to use in their businesses.

What are some interesting stories you have around graduates coming out of the program?
We have kept in touch with the participants in the pilot year of the program. We have continued to meet and work with the teams on supporting them to build their businesses and obtain investment. This has included formal mentoring and working on investment prospectus.

We have worked with five of the companies in the Wine Meets Tech and Tourism Meets Tech series, showcasing their (and others) technology to the wine and tourism sectors. Most of the companies are actively building their customer base in Australia and working with people they have connected with through FOMENT.

One of the companies has obtained additional investment, moved its headquarters to South Australia and is in the process of hiring more local staff. They have been successful in working with South Australian wineries and will soon commence the first commercial implementation of their technology in international markets. 

Another company has obtained additional investment, hired its first CEO is actively recruiting customers to their platform and building out the next version.

Another is about to go live in an Australian wine region and is developing the next generation of their tech in partnership with one of our program mentors.

The program is broken down into two parts, Acceleration and Adoption. Why have you created two separate components within FOMENT, and what businesses are you targeting for each of these channels?
There is a big industry gap in adoption of digital technology and we wanted to make sure we didn’t just progress the tech businesses to be market ready, but also get market traction and adoption.

The Acceleration program is about developing an Industry 4.0 product or service that has the potential to disrupt the wine and tourism industries, locally, nationally and globally. It is like a hands-on business school for tech startups. Being a part of FOMENT means you are welcomed into a network of people passionate about staying on the leading edge in wine and tourism. We want new technology to be designed in partnership with the local industry and adopted rapidly.

For Adoption, we are targeting businesses to participate in the acceleration program that are keen to trial and implement new technology that will allow them to be more efficient and more successful and help businesses to identify tech they can use right now. We have showcased 21 tech companies to Australia wine and tourism businesses and specifically addresses how and why to adopt these technologies in your business.

What do you and the team at FOMENT think the future of tech in the Australian Wine Industry looks like?
The Australian wine and tourism sectors have to deal with massive change as a result of COVID-19. The adoption of tech needs to be deep and fast.  

Tech will re-wire customer relationships, which we have already seen with virtual wine and virtual tourism experiences, social media and influencers, and we must keep up with that.

Grape production and agricultural technology have been promising for decades, but only now with the advent of the cloud and automation has the potential of agtech and wine making technology started to be realised – the way viticulture is done is about to undergo a massive revolution.

We will see technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning being applied to pest detection and biosecurity automation in vineyards improving efficiency in grape selection and drones combined with GPS driven technology mapping out intervention zones for real time prevention and treatment.

Internet of things and Big Data Analytics will allow data collection and analysis in the field: vineyards, wineries, tourism hotspots, for better decision making.

Blockchain traceability will bring down counterfeiting and improve customer trust and promote brand loyalty. Using unique labels and geolocation technology, the life of a bottle is tracked guaranteeing its authenticity and connecting the customer with the winery.

Augmented and virtual reality will be key to engage customers in storytelling and a more efficient way to communicate and promote branding campaigns. 

The possibilities are endless and these are now exciting times when we see industry keen to learn more about tech with a view to adopting some of the technologies that solve the problems that they have been dealing with for decades. 

Tech will re-wire customer relationships, which we have already seen with virtual wine and virtual tourism experiences, social media and influencers, and we must keep up with that.

How does the adoption of winetech and tourism tech in Australia compare to other countries? 
Some companies in Australia have been slow in adopting Industry 4.0/tech in wine, especially when compared to US (California), France and even countries in South America such as Chile and Argentina. But Australia has been much faster than others in adopting improved viticulture, winemaking and packaging with a great history of Australian R&D and product innovation.  

The distance between wine regions makes the transfer of knowledge and the scaling of Industry 4.0 tech harder than in other countries. However, Australia is vast and tech can really promote the much-needed communication and transfer of knowledge across the different ecosystem and industry players. 

Historically, Australia has always been a desired tourism destination. However, a lot of tourists often comment that they feel lost and would like to have more options to connect to Australian tourism operators. The tech adoption on tourism has also been slow compared to other countries such as the UK, US and some European countries such as Germany and France. Millennials are looking for fast information so tourism tech can provide solutions that go beyond the traditional travel agencies.

Millennials are looking for fast information so tourism tech can provide solutions that go beyond the traditional travel agencies.

Why do you think the Australian wine industry could be hesitant to adopt winetech, and how do you think we can better engage them with technology? 
Like most industries, the wine and tourism industries have a lot of traditionalists who deflect the idea of change, which is a barrier to much tech adoption. However, with programs like FOMENT, industries can find comfort in the fact that products/services have been tested and have been established by industry experts. 

COVID-19 has rewritten the rules and the sector is adapting to a fast-changing international environment, so the pace of technology adoption is about to accelerate massively. Having a program like FOMENT makes that transition easier as there are more people in the sector familiar with what is happening in tech change.

A good tactic for us is in-market testing to show the consumers practical implementation results and give them the peace of mind of product verification. 

with programs like FOMENT, industries can find comfort in the fact that products/services have been tested and have been established by industry experts. 

What sort of technology do you hope to see emerge as a result of COVID-19, and how important will its role be in supporting the wine and tourism industries?
E-commerce (DTC channels), product authentication, online consumer engagement, virtual reality and augmented reality for virtual experiences, specific data collection allowing for improved efficiency.

These technologies will be critical as the wine and tourism value chains are significantly changing due to Covid-19 and will not go back to what it used to be. Some consumers are finding virtual experiences more convenient and enjoying the fact that they can have personal and customised conversations with winemakers while they enjoy the tasting from the comfort of their home.

Virtual cellar doors, combining online shop fronts, virtual winery tours, virtual wine tasting, live streamed events and other imaginative consumer engagement strategies, have given winemakers the opportunity to speak to consumers in the comfort of their own homes. They’ve given consumers the chance to sneak ‘behind the scenes’ at their favourite wineries. Winemakers are able to tell their stories, help consumers understand the winemaking process, or conduct wine tastings in real-time, online. Virtual cellar doors are creating dedicated online communities with passionate brand advocates.

Virtual cellar doors are creating dedicated online communities with passionate brand advocates.t

We expect to see a winemaking transition where customers and distributors become closer to the making of the wine. This may include accessing the stories of the vineyard or authentication data. But it will also mean increased visibility of stock throughout supply chains, better feedback into wine production of what consumers are buying and perhaps even opportunities to access designer wines and create orders during making rather than after bottling. This may increase the ability to keep up with fast-changing consumer trends. All of this will require improved data management throughout the supply chain. It also means many Industry 4.0 technology implementations in how wine is made in small and large operations.

We can imagine a world where technology is supplied as a service across all of viticulture. The opportunities for automation of irrigation, drone services that are ordered from a mobile device and farm mapping that automatically drives irrigation and fertiliser application are just the beginning. The outcomes will be more efficient production, better quality grapes and much better environmental outcomes, which are increasingly being demanded by consumers.

There really is not enough space in a short article to cover off on the exciting and challenging transition that wine and tourism are undergoing.

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