Slurp.asia to set up agency business

Online retailer slurp.asia is diversifying into wine education and winery representation.

The e-commerce business will be using its shop in Hong Kong’s Wan Chai to hold classes primarily for Chinese residents in the city, while it is also planning to directly import a mix of more esoteric wines from the likes of Austria and Greece.

Speaking to the drinks business today, Tom Chamberlain, managing director of slurp.asia stated, “We are setting up an agency business.”

Continuing, he explained, “We’ve been an e-commerce retailer up until now but there are a lot of opportunities in Hong Kong and there’s a great restaurant culture, so we are talking to some Austrian, Australia, Greek and US wineries.”

Stressing the growing sophistication of Hong Kong wine drinkers, Chamberlain said that there is a space for less well-known grapes and wine producing regions in the on-trade.

Hence, he commented that slurp.asia is considering representing wines that will all be  “on the fringes of what one would consider mainstream taste.”

For example, from the US, Chamberlain is planning to bring in a Pinot Noir from Oregon, and from Australia, he wants to import Semillon from the Hunter Valley, which he describes as “undervalued and underappreciated”.

He’s also looking at both Blaufränkisch and Grüner Veltliner from Austria and whites from the island of Santorini.

“The restaurant going population are starting to expand their horizons and these wines would be perfect for by the glass listings in more upmarket operations, where the sommeliers have a great wine knowledge,” he said, adding, “And I would love to promote them.”

Meanwhile, Chamberlain said that slurp.asia would be beginning wine classes in October this year.

“We are just at the final stages of applying for a WSET [Wine & Spirit Education Trust] licence and we will have a wine school here – our shop is well suited for conducting classes,” he said.

He explained that a woman who is originally from Shanghai would be hosting the wine tutorials, which will be aimed at Mainland Chinese residents in Hong Kong.

Looking back, Chamberlain said that slurp.asia was founded in October 2010 as an extension to slurp.co.uk.

Over the last 18 months the Hong Kong business has expanded to include an office and shop in Wan Chai and a warehouse for holding stock.

Chamberlain said that slurp.asia has been growing every month since it was founded, although the past two to three months “have quietened down a bit”.

Such a slowdown he attributed to “a general malaise in the market,” although he also said, “It’s not as good as six months ago but it’s still good.”

Notably, he said that the value of an average order in Hong Kong is “three to four times” higher than through slurp.co.uk.

“People in Hong Kong are willing to spend more on wine to drink, whether it’s an everyday wine or for weekend drinking.”

Continuing he commented, “We have a lot of customers who drink grand cru Burgundy and premier cru Bordeaux, although no-one is in the market for investing in fine wine at the moment.”

He added, “The great thing is they buy wines to drink, Bordeaux from third and fourth growth châteaux are considered wines to drink.”

In terms of wines other than Bordeaux, he noted slurp.asia’s success with New World wines, particularly those from South America.

“Chile’s Seña – made by Eduardo Chadwick of Errazuriz, and Robert Mondavi – has been huge for us.

“We were selling the 2008 [vintage] in the early part of this year and because the wines had a very good reception it led people onto other New World wines.”

As for the general e-commerce wine market in Hong Kong, Chamberlain explained that there was still apprehension about buying drinks online.

“Half the battle is presentation,” he began, referring to drawing in new online customers, “And the other half is the customer having the confidence to actually enter their credit card details into the web portal.”

However, Chamberlain said he is “bullish” for slurp.asia’s future.

“We now have an established e-commerce platform for wine in Hong Kong, and a lot thought that was difficult to do,” he said.

Continuing he explained, “We’ve done it and our reputation is growing, so now it’s just a matter of encouraging more to come to us and gradually gaining the confidence to shop online.

Nevertheless, he admitted, “We have still got a way to go.”

Click here to read more about Slurp, particularly its UK and Europe operation.