Why Europe is slower than US to adopt technology
Stuart Maxwell, chief operations officer of Proof 8, offers an inside view on how technology is addressing real-world challenges facing distilleries, optimising production, maturation and quality control.
“Having visibility [of stock] is absolutely critical,” said Stuart Maxwell, chief operations office of Proof 8, regarding the main operational problems he sees at distilleries. He cited being able to digitalise and automate notifications regarding stock levels as one of the main operational challenges he sees at distilleries.
His comments were shared during a seminar at ProWein 2026, hosted at The Spirits Business Hub.
In addition to compliance reporting, he added: “The other major part is traceability, being able to trace your products back to a field or a particular source.
“A lot of distillers we speak to, especially at the craft level, they’re looking to have that authenticity and traceability back to a particular source.”
Proof 8 has been working closely with whisky distilleries to introduce more digital ways of working. Maxwell stressed this was possible to do without producers compromising their tradition or heritage.
Maxwell has also observed some stark differences between the willingness to adopt digital processes in Europe and in the US, particularly as Proof 8 has moved to expand Stateside.
He said: “The US has been an eye opener for us over the past six to eight months as we’ve gotten more US customers. The TTB [Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau] reporting is brutal, super difficult, really complicated, lots of forms.
“So, when we talk to US customers who are looking to come on board, they either have a system ready or they certainly have something to help with TTB reporting. They have built their processes around the system and they understand what’s needed to do automatic TTB reporting.
“It’s not really the same in Europe. Most of our customers [in Europe] are coming from spreadsheets and they’ve built a dependency on [them].
“That becomes a little bit harder to untangle and a lot harder to adopt. There’s definitely a slower adoption of technology within spirits operations in Europe.”
What risks does the spirits industry face if it doesn’t catch up and embrace more digital ways of working?
“Trust is massive,” Maxwell said. “Spreadsheet dependency. The risks are there from errors to lack of traceability, poor inventory accuracy. Those risks don’t go anywhere, even if [spreadsheets] make you feel comfortable.
“There are many risks. Most, I think, are on trust, authenticity and traceability, particularly if you’re selling products for a very high price point.”
The full conversation with Maxwell is now available to watch on The Spirits Business’ YouTube channel, and via the video link below.
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