Our Story
2001
After working for several years in the catering and hotel industry as a chef, sommelier and maître d'hôtel, Arno Hofer went freelance. He founded a consulting company for the further training of catering staff. His most important partner is a beverage wholesaler. He organizes the wine assortment for him and advises its customers on many issues related to wine. This included creating wine lists. Although still "analog", but for that time already created with very professional layout programs, Arno's customized maps develop into a decisive acquisition and customer loyalty factor.
2010
On January 27, 2010, the first Apple iPad was presented by Steve Jobs. That was also the birth of winePad. With the presentation of the first tablet, the seeds for the digital sommelier are planted in Arno's head. He designs a concept and commissions the web developer “Maisengasse" to implement the first prototype. From this point on, he invests every cent and every free minute in his heart project.
2013
The implementation of winePad 1.0 has been completed. A handful of hotels in St. Anton and Ischgl have put the world's first digital wine lists into operation. The project is immediately awarded the Tirolissimo, the Tyrolean advertising award. Customers will soon be added across Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Italy.
2016
During a lectureship in sommelier training Arno met Maxim Danilov. Maxim, born in Moscow, is an excellent programmer, but wants to build a second mainstay in the restaurant business. Fortunately, Arno can persuade him to refrain from doing so. Maxim joins Arno's team and takes responsibility for all technical matters. A huge development spurt follows. The software is raised to a new level.
2018
winePad 2.0 reaches its limits. No further development can take place without enlarging the team. The sole proprietorship becomes a GmbH. With Arno's right hand Stefanie Thöni and content manager Caroline Muck, two valuable employees join the team. Later that year Maxim meets the equally ski-crazy young designer Jonas Herrmann during his ski instructor training (yes, he can't live without it … programming alone is not enough). It doesn't take long for Jonas to become the fourth valuable part of Arno's core team after Maxim, Steffi and Caro.
2020
February 4 - The winePad library now counts 40,000 items, each with up to 200 individual dates. And the database continues to grow every day.
March 8th - In South Tyrol the ski season ends prematurely due to the corona virus. Hotels and restaurants have to close.
March 13 - Now Covid-19 has also fully covered Austria. The first tourism hotspots are quarantined. Shortly afterwards, the entire hotel and catering trade is shut down. Switzerland and Germany follow a few days later.
95% of winePad customers have closed their businesses almost overnight. What's next? We are confident that we will soon be able to set a positive milestone for 2020.
