NxG Award 2022 - Finalist - Nicolas P. Staempfli
Nicolas P. Staempfli
Nicolas is 4th Generation, Weinkellerei Staempfli AG
Project Name: "Weinlager Laupen" / Wine Bank
Year initiated: 2019
Project description: Weinlager Laupen is a "wine safe" that stores wines for private- and institutional clients. The clients have 24h access to their wines and it is managed and run as an intrapreneurial Startup, integrating state-of-the-art technology such as Blockchain to trade and store the wines of our tenants.
How does your project provide a solution to a problem or satisfy a specific need?
When we got demand of private clients where to store their wines we wanted to find a solution for this issue. There are several factors which need to be considered: 1) Nowadays, new building do not include a wine cellar, so wine afficiandos need to buy a wine-fridge which consumes very lots of energy. 2) Collectors and wine-lovers are seeking for the perfect conditions to store and keep their wines for years, or decades. With our company history, we can guarantee a "safe-Space" for their wines. 3) Storage capacity is rare and in large demand, we simply wanted to satisfy the need of storing wine properly. 4) Wine collectors and investors were seeking for an opportunity to trade their wines: With our Blockchain-powered solution and a brand-new trading platform, we help our customers through the whole funnel: from purchasing the wines, storing the wines through the final sale.
How do you create customer value?
We create customer value from the idea of purchasing wine, until the final liquidation (either drunk, or sold). 1) Purchasing: With our connections and our history we have incredible connections to high-end wineries all over the world, we help our clients building their collection. 2) Through storage: We help our customers store their wines under optimal and safe conditions: Perfectly climatised, safe from robbery and fakes. Down under the earth. It is proofed that well stored wine has significantly higher value once it's been resold, or drunk. Storage is key. 3) Tracking and management: We manage each collection individually (if needed) and help our customers with decisions, for ex. if a wine can be drunk or not. We provide a full-set asset management for collectors and wine lovers. Temperature and climate is tracked each 10 seconds, providing storage data in case it is requested. 4) Liquidating / Selling: Through our brand new website (will be online in a few weeks), our clients can sell their wines online, or we simply do it for them: With B2B clients in UK, SG and HK we can fetch great selling prices on behalf of our clients. And at the end: 5) The ultimate feeling that your personal liquid treasures are safe, and stored under best possible conditions.
How is your project innovative?
The project can be described as innovative as we are changing the way our clients can interact with us as a company as well with wine: They can trade themselves, they can track their wines in terms of price performances or in terms of storage (which temperature and climate), it is innovative as we are using Blockchain technology (VinID) for securing the wines that our clients put in their lockers, track the wines or manage their collection via the CollectID app. It is innovative as wine storage itself does only exist in large cities but not in this technological context. It is innovative as "Weinlager Laupen" is set-up and managed as a startup withhin the Wenkellerei Stämpfli AG company. It is innovative as we use state-of-the-art air condition equipment with constant temperature and climate tracking (the data is openly accessible for our clients), it is innovative as our clients can let send their wines to a specific adress Next-Day or let their wines from a specific adress send it to their locker Next-Day, and all via App. It is innovative as our clients can put their inventory in the Weinlager Laupen App, they can reserve the tasting room via App, they can send, or let send wine from, or to their locker via app. It is innovative as we use the best possible data to track the portfolios of our wine-investment clients and trade their wines either within our trade network or they can trade it themselves.
What is the most valuable mistake that you have made, and what did you learn from it?
We have made mistakes in the costruction and learned with a back-step how to improve the stability of the lockers so that we can roll it out on a large scale without any doubts.
How being from a family business has impacted you as a person, and which influence this has in turn had on your project?
My dad and my uncle (both Co-CEOs with me as well owners) have helped me with thinking-steps and their very large an in-depth knowledge in construction, trading and industry knowledge. As the "grey eminence" i used their knowledge a lot and it was extremely valuable. The financial risk of the project was for us as a small family business substantial but we did a great work with the motto: "Do it right, or not at all!"