By Eliana Mischel, NoCamels -
No more waiting for drinks at the bar on a night out, thanks to a simple cap for liquor bottles that allows revelers to fix their own drinks from an array at the table, and to pay as they pour.
Tel-Aviv based startup NINA says its product gives the consumer control over what they drink and when they drink it, saving the time normally spent trying to catch the attention of a busy bartender in a crowded bar.
It calls the bottle top a shakeup of the alcohol industry, which reflects the demands of the new generation of consumers who are used to immediate gratification and digitized services.
The technology comes in the form of a bottle cap designed to fit all sizes of liquor bottle, which operates based on a simple system.
Each table at a bar or other venue that uses NINA has a QR code on display. And when scanned with your smartphone, the QR code takes you to a website where you can swipe through the range of drinks on offer.
You simply select the liquor of your choice from the website, and pour. NINA measures the amount you have poured, and charges you either through the payment service on your phone or credit card details you provide to it.
“NINA allows people to interact with the bottle quite fast, to know more about what they consume, and to enjoy the experience with zero barriers,” founder and CEO Yair Marom tells NoCamels.
In fact, the company defines the experience as “15 seconds, liquor to lip.”
You can pour as much as you want, and pay for as much as you pour, using NINA’s smart technology.
What’s more, the NINA cap provides an airtight seal for any liquor bottle, keeping the beverage inside fresh.
An industrial engineer, Marom says he was inspired to create the company in 2018 as an answer to the demands of the digitized, interconnected world, where everything is instantly available.
And while other startups have sought to disrupt the hospitality industry through digitized delivery and payment schemes, NINA is the first to combine the two in a system that instantly delivers alcohol at a venue as soon as you pay.
The unique cap includes tech that turns each drop into data within seconds, letting businesses track the exact numbers of pours in real time, determine which alcohols are popular among which demographics and even monitor and compare sales over different periods.
This, according to Marom, allows big brand liquors to interact with their customers in a way which is almost unheard of today in the industry.
He explains that NINA allows businesses to create a completely customized experience, depending on requirements such as dynamic pricing and ad hoc promotions.
In the sports venues in which it is used, for example, the technology allows consumers to enjoy special promotions that enhance their experience – and boost business.
“In a baseball stadium, there is a homerun and now you want all the users to get a 20% discount on a home run. We can do that,” says Marom.
Businesses who sign up with NINA get an hour-long training session where they can set their inventory and prices, and learn how to use the product itself.
Marom says that the focus is on venues in the hospitality industry, primarily “controlled environments like VIP suites, lounges like hotel rooms, events, conventions or weddings.”
The bottle tops are now in use in a number of large venues in the US, including basketball stadiums TD Garden, home of the Boston Celtics, and Golden1 Center, where the Sacramento Kings play. Both venues have capacity of around 20,000 people.
In Israel, NINA’s users include the Selina travel chain, which says the introduction of the bottle top system has actually given its alcohol sales a major boost.
One reason for this increase, according to NINA, is that the cap system allows businesses to include local wines in its range of choices.
“It’s not just the named brands in the system; it’s customizable. If you have a local alcohol brand, we’ll put it in. It’s very simple for us. You just select the bottle, connect the name to it, and you’re done,” Marom says.
The company also says its bottle caps promote sustainability, which is lacking in the alcohol industry, as it allows venues and bars to utilize large bottles and moderate the liquor pours without unnecessary waste.
“We offer a more sustainable business solution. You can recycle bottles, you can use larger ones and reduce your waste. So we offer sustainability, we offer good experience, and inclusive sales.”
