Barcodes for Wine, Beer and Spirits

The majority of wine and beer products sold around the world have barcodes on their labels. Retailers require barcodes on products so that they can easily keep track of their stock, and to facilitate the sales process. We have been selling barcodes to customers in more than 100 countries for many years, and many of our clients are vineyards, wine distributors, and companies that specialise in wine, beer and spirits. Take a look at some of our customers:

Muckle Brewing, who produce a wide range of ales in Northumberland.

Glendalough Distillery, Ireland’s first craft distillery.

Isle of Skye Distillers, who are producing beautiful craft gin from Portree on the Isle of Skye.

Buy your barcodes for wine and beer products from the table below – when you purchase “Barcode Packages” from below, you will receive EAN-13 barcodes that are suitable for use on all food and beverage products (including wines and beers), worldwide. For more information about barcodes for wine bottles, please see the FAQ’s at the bottom of this page.

FAQ’s about Barcodes for Wine Bottles

 

What type of barcode do I need for wine or beer products?

Wine and beer bottles in most parts of the world, usually have a 13 digit “EAN-13” barcode on them. You can purchase this type of barcode above, and receive it by email instantly.

The EAN-13 barcodes we sell are globally unique barcodes that comply with the standardised retail barcoding system used around the world. Our barcodes are compliant with all global retail barcoding software and barcode scanners.

How many barcodes do I need for my wine (or beer) products?

Generally speaking, you need a unique barcode number for each different retail product (this includes different product variations – e.g. different craft beer flavours or sizes). If your product is for sale both individually (e.g. individual bottles) as well as in a multi-unit set (e.g. a 6-pack of beers), then you’ll need one barcode for the bottle and a different barcode for the 6-pack.

It’s imperative to get a different barcode for each product when the price is different. If the price is the same (across all the product variations), then you might get away with using the same barcode number on all the product variations. This depends on which retail stores you are selling your products in – the larger retail stores, in particular, might require a different barcode for each product variation (especially if they do stocktaking automatically, instead of manually).

Do I need to get different barcodes for different vintages of wine?

Possibly. If different vintages are available for sale the same time in the retail stores and have different prices, then you will certainly need a different barcode for each vintage (ensuring the correct price appears when the barcode is scanned at checkout).

What type of barcode do I need for the outer delivery cartons of wine?

You may need to put an ITF-14 barcode (a 14 digit Shipping Code) onto the delivery boxes that contain your wine bottles – please discuss this with your retailers to find out if they require this. ITF-14 barcodes are 14 digits long and are based on the 13 digit EAN barcode that goes on the wine labels. They are scanned when each delivery carton enters the warehouse/storage area so that your retailers know how many bottles of wine is in each box. This helps them to keep track of the remaining stock that’s in their warehouse and to know when they’re running low on a particular product and need to order more. Usually, you’ll need one ITF-14 barcode for each EAN-13 barcode that you have. You can purchase an ITF-14 barcode here if you need one.

Do we need to give you any product information?

No you don’t. All you need to do is to buy the barcodes you need below on our website and pay by credit card. You will receive your barcodes automatically by email as soon as we receive your payment. The barcodes will simply be a globally unique sequence of 13 digits, encoded into a barcode image (the vertical black bars and white spaces). No product information will be encoded into the barcodes. Your barcodes and products will only be linked together once you give them to your retailers, and they enter the information into their inventory system. After that, when the barcode is scanned, the product/price information will appear on the retailer’s checkout screen.

How do we use our barcodes?

For information on how to use your barcodes please see this page.

Do we need to register the barcodes in a  database? 

No you don’t. You can just allocate the barcodes to your wine bottles, and get them printed onto the labels, and then start using the barcodes immediately. There is no compulsory (or comprehensive) barcode database for wine or beer products – or for any other retail product – worldwide.

There are several general barcode databases online (where all types of retail products – food, beverages, clothes etc – can be listed), but none of these databases are complete. One of the best ones is the International Barcodes Database. If you purchase “EAN-13 Barcode Packages” (above) you’ll be able to register your barcodes for free on that database. Registration is an optional service, it is not compulsory. For more information about barcode registration click here.

Can we purchase a roll of sticky barcode labels from you? 

Yes you can. We can send you a roll of barcode labels (via courier) for you to stick  onto your existing wine bottle labels. This can be a good option if your labels were printed before you got a barcode (or if the barcode that was printed on the labels is not scanning correctly for some reason). You can purchase barcode labels here.