Organic wines’ opportunity in HK

Consumer interest in organic wine is growing in Hong Kong as more importers are championing wines made free from additives, chemicals and synthetic fertilisers.

Jean Loup Thomazo, founder and chairman of Natural Food & Beverages

After La Cabane opened up the first natural wine bar in Hong Kong in 2011, a few importers in the city followed suit and dedicated their portfolio solely to organic, biodynamic and natural wines.

Natural Food & Beverages, a company founded by Jean Loup Thomazo three years ago, is one of the importers particularly bullish about the organic wine trend and believes that organic and biodynamic wines are the true expressions of ‘terroir’.

Referring to non-organic wines as one of the agricultural products with the most pesticides, the French wine merchant opined: “Everybody is trying to add different additives for a new taste and slowly you forget about terroir, the grapes and the fruits. With organic and biodynamic wines, you go back to the basics and the terroir. You discover again, what is really wine, and each wine is very different. You can find different taste. The wine itself is very pure, it’s a natural product.”

The merchant carries about 50 brands of biodynamic, organic and natural wines from France. His goal is to represent organic wines from each appellation from France and eventually tap into Italy as well, he revealed to dbHK in an interview.

Speaking of his entry into the organic and natural wine business, Thomazo explained: “Because we have a lot of importers selling wines [here in Hong Kong] but the organic market is very quiet if you compare it to Europe or London. As Hong Kong is a city of wine lovers, we are sure that the organic market is going to grow“.

Selling anything from Champagne Drappier to Egiategia Dena Dela, a wine made with some of its grapes fermented under sea, the merchant is mainly doing on-trade business with restaurants, bars and a few individuals, Thomazo added.

Japan, for instance, has long been exposed to the concept of organic wines, Hong Kong is still a nascent market for organic wines, though a few players including La Cabane, Bottle Shock and Cuvée are upping the organic wine game. “We have a lot of organic food and restaurants, and people seem to care a lot about what they eat. But organic wines, they don’t seem to make the link, so we have to explain a lot about organic winemaking,” Thomazo said, making an example of the hurdles when promoting organic wines in the local market.

In addition to wine, the company also imports some French spirits including the whole range of whiskies by Michel Couvreur in Burgundy.