Food and beverage
Wineries and beverages
Designations, export and labelling: documentation that travels with the product.
A winery has a documentary problem the wider food industry does not: much of its paperwork travels with the product to another country, where it is reviewed by someone with their own criteria and in their own language.
The three modules
| What | Module | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Grape, packaging and ancillary suppliers | Trackline | Composition and packaging conformity |
| Agreements with distributors and importers | Consigne | Signed before the first shipment |
| Documentation for each shipment | SmartCheck | Certify what was sent, with its date |
Important
Export documentation is prepared per shipment and reviewed abroad. A document rejected at destination can leave goods stranded in customs at a daily cost, so the draft is checked before sending, not after.
Frameworks cited
Designation of origin and geographical indication rules, labelling and consumer information, oenological practices where applicable, and the destination country's requirements, which can differ considerably from European ones. What each market requires is confirmed by your adviser or regulatory council.
Watch out
If you work under a designation of origin, the regulatory council's documentation has its own deadlines and renewals. It does not fit the rest of the calendar, which is why it gets forgotten.
Worth knowing
When you always export to the same markets, the shipment is nearly identical. Built as a process, the twentieth costs a fraction of the first.
›Can I have one process per destination country?
Yes, and you usually need to: markets do not ask the same things.
›What about labels in other languages?
They go in as shipment documentation, with their version and date.
›Does it serve for a regulatory council inspection?
It is what gets shown, with dates you did not set.
A real case
The situation
A winery has a shipment stuck in customs over a badly prepared document.
What you do
- Builds a process per destination market
- Reviews the draft before sending
What you get
Later shipments clear first time and the cost of stranded days disappears.
The situation
Export documentation is prepared shipment by shipment.
What you do
- Gathers what repeats into a file
What you get
The second shipment to the same destination costs half.
The situation
Each market asks for different labels.
What you do
- Stores each version against its market
What you get
You know what was sold with which label.
The situation
A client asks you to evidence a specific vintage.
What you do
- Checks that vintage's file
What you get
You answer per vintage rather than per winery.
The situation
Designation documentation expires without warning.
What you do
- Records validity when filing it
What you get
Renewal happens with time to spare.
The situation
The packaging supplier changes and labels stay the same.
What you do
- Reviews what is affected when suppliers change
What you get
The label stays true.
This article answers
- documentation to export wine
- designation of origin documentation
- beverage labelling requirements
- food export certificates