TRADE TALK All Things
TRADE TALK All Things Nice @ Vinexpo Hong Kong Top Indian marketing and consulting agency leverages Vinexpo Hong Kong for ideas and networking PRESS CORNER OUR SWEET SPOTS ARE BORDEAUX, TUSCANY, CHAMPAGNE AND THE NAPA VALLEY Nikhil Agarwal Sommelier & CEO, All Things Nice Nicholas Siu Publisher, Cru Magazine and Whisky Magazine WINES, WHISKIES AND TECHNOLOGIES ATTRACT LOCAL PUBLISHER All Things Nice is India’s leading wine, spirits and luxury marketing and consulting agency with fine wine, luxury real estate and equity portfolio management verticals. We asked Nikhil Agarwal, the company’s Sommelier & CEO, how sales are progressing, and what regions are his “sweet spots” at the moment. Sales are on track, our sweet spots are Bordeaux, Tuscany, Champagne and the Napa Valley. Australia is this year’s country of honour. How do you work with Australian wines? I won a scholarship to Australia to study wine and then Wine Australia made me their A+ Wine Educator. I love Australian wine and the culture of wine in Australia. We do a lot of work promoting their brands and even do top end culinary events with their best Chefs and Wine Makers from Australia, who we bring to India for unique luxury driven wine and food events and activities. What are your key reasons for coming to Vinexpo Hong Kong? To meet people and seek new brands and companies to work with. To generate business and catch up with colleagues from around the world. Vinexpo always puts together a well-run exhibition, where global producers, buyers and other members of the trade have an opportunity to meet and discuss synergies. I have been visiting Vinexpo in Bordeaux and other parts of the world since I was 20 years old. Last year, I visited Vienna as part of their new endeavour, Vinexpo Explorer, and was happy to be introduced to such a varied list of producers in a short period of time. I look forward to visiting Sonoma as part of this year’s agenda too. Overall, I have interacted with the team and have experienced their product and I have always walked away impressed. Hong Kong is a great business city and the show here attracts people from Asia that are important to our business as well Nicholas Siu is the publisher of Cru Magazine (for wine, sake, champagne) and Whisky Magazine HK and Macau (for all other spirits). We asked Nicholas what brings him to Vinexpo Hong Kong this year. We are keen to look for some new emerging technologies and also new inspiration in general in the 20 th edition of Vinexpo. For example, we saw a teaser of a Wine Robot from China. We hope to see more new ideas, and to be able to follow the market evolution in the world. For Australia wine, in particular, we would like to try more undiscovered wines, which more and more boutique wineries and brewery are now exporting. The 20 th edition of Vinexpo certainly is a new milestone for the wine industry and I met winemakers from around the world. We had a very full schedule for the whole week. It proves the success for the fair around the globe. The official show daily (Vinexpo Daily) is a great vehicle to quickly spread the news within the trade circle and we wish you success By the way… If you missed yesterday’s interview with Shuyao Qin, Secretary General, China Alcoholic Drinks Distribution Association & Founder of Yunjiu Headline, it can still be found on vinexpodaily.com 8 VINEXPO DAILY / DAY 3 / THURSDAY 31 ST MAY 2018
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW VINEXPO IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR US TO MEET OUR CUSTOMERS, TO MEET OUR SUPPLIERS, AND IT’S A GOOD WAY TO NETWORK Paulo Pong Managing Director, Altaya Group International Limited Towards the B2C Exclusive Interview – Paulo Pong – Managing Director – Altaya Group International Limited Considered a key player not only in its home market of Hong Kong but across Asia Pacific, Altaya Wines was recognised as the “Best Wine Merchant of the Year Asia Pacific 2011” by the Wandering Palate. Group Managing Director Paulo Pong is renowned globally as an expert in wine trends and marketing. He is back this year at Vinexpo Hong Kong where we caught up with him and asked him “What’s new?” We have put a bit more focus on the B2C side. We have always been doing a lot of B2C, but these past two years, we worked on our website, we worked on our digital strategy. This is quite successful and we are doing more things online these days. Also, the more traditional B2C, which is our retail side, has also developed quite well. We are still with seven shops. We have changed some locations, but overall, I feel like we are attracting different customers, digitally and also through the traditional shop format. For the online business, we feel like we are attracting a lot of online experienced and knowledgeable customers who don’t really need to come and talk to people as they generally know exactly what they want. They trust us, they are referred by other fellow drinkers and they come to us and buy with a great deal of confidence. The shops tend to attract some new clients, who may or may not be new to wine. But they feel more secure to see and visit the shop, see the bottles and talk to the shop manager. So, we are doing a lot of this online / offline thing that a lot of people are talking about. It’s quite rewarding, having both ends of the strategy helps grow the business. As Australia is country of honour this year, with a lot of lesser known regions and suppliers making themselves known, is this affecting your purchasing decisions in any way? I’ll put it in another context. I think what we have been focussing on all along are boutique wineries, and we have always promoted family estates and boutique wineries from around the world. That also applies to Australia. We work with a few estates in Barossa and Yarra, not forgetting Clare Valley. They all produce very high-quality wines, we have been promoting them for the past ten or twelve years and I believe they are gaining traction and gaining recognition, especially with the style of wine they make, because nowadays people are going away from the very rich and robust and muscular wines. What these guys are trying to do are the more elegant wines, and more refined wines with finesse. So, with Australia we have been promoting their wines for a very long time and we are seeing some results now. What is your impression of Vinexpo this year? The atmosphere is great. People have high expectations. We are in the middle of the Bordeaux en Primeur campaign, and I like the 2017 vintage a lot, which is still waiting for some of the Châteaux to come up with prices – sensible prices hopefully. But overall, I believe Vinexpo is extremely important for us to meet our customers, to meet our suppliers, and it’s a good way to network, because you really have a lot of people coming into Hong Kong this week. And Hong Kong being the wine hub of Asia, this event is extremely important to us. How are tastes changing at the moment? Is there an evolution in demand in that respect? Absolutely. I think people are moving towards the more elegant style of wine, with greater finesse. It may have to do with the experience, it may have to do with the weather. For example, this is the 12th day of record heat in Hong Kong. People are not chasing the blockbuster big wines, they are now drinking a lot of Champagne, more white wine, more rosé, and in terms of red varietals we see more Pinot Noir from all around the world Altaya Wines has one of the most extensive rare and fine wine selections in the region, with over 6,000 references from the best vineyards across the globe. As an exclusive agent to over 90 internationally-acclaimed brands from Bordeaux, Burgundy, Alsace, Rhone Valley, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Austria, Argentina, and the United States. In addition to the exclusive agency offerings, it also offers favourable pricing for En-Primeur. Considered a key player not only in its home market of Hong Kong but also across Asia Pacific, Altaya Wines was recognized as the ‘Best Wine Merchant of the Year Asia Pacific 2011’ by the Wandering Palate. Paulo Pong was nominated in Wine Intelligence’s 10 for 10 Business Awards in 2012 and has been selected as one of the world’s top 50 people on Decanter Power List in 2013 vinexpodaily.com VINEXPO DAILY / DAY 3 / THURSDAY 31 ST MAY 2018 9
