J&B sales surge ahead of Eastern expansion

Justerini & Brooks has doubled its turnover in 2010 due to a successful en primeur Bordeaux campaign, thriving trade sales and large allocations of top Burgundy and wines from the Rhône.

Hew Blair, chairman of the London fine wine merchant, told the drinks business: “The restaurant business has been great… and when others took less of ’07s and ’08s because of the recession and the vintages weren’t so good, we stepped in and took allocations – and it’s worked very well.”

As previously reported by db, the merchant is opening an office in Hong Kong, which Blair confirms will be operational at the beginning of next year.

“We’ve signed the lease on a new office in the Central District [Hong Kong] and it will be up and running in January.”

J&B already has a presence in this market through Quintessentially Wine, which has an office in Hong Kong and is majority owned by J&B.

However, Blair stressed: “[J&B] is a totally different style of business,” and pointed out that the merchant would “probably end up with a team of seven” in Hong Kong.

He also said that while J&B are “already very strong” in Hong Kong due to regular visits, the new office will act as a hub for China, Singapore, Malaysia, Jakarta, Thailand and South Korea.

Such expansion, Blair admitted, could put pressure on supply. “It will throw up interesting situations where we will have an office out there [Hong Kong] working off the same stock as the office here [London], so I see a big problem in accessing more top end wines directly from the châteaux or négociants.”

Nevertheless, he reminded that J&B parent company, Diageo Wines Europe, has its own Bordeaux négociant, Vignobles Internationaux, which was supplier to Diageo’s US fine wine operation, Chateau & Estate Wines.

“They [Diageo] were going to close it down,” recalled Blair, “and we felt that there was a market in China and the Far East that needed to be satisfied and prior to that this négociant was selling 100% into the USA.”

Looking ahead Blair told db, “I see us going onwards and upwards and we are looking at new markets such as Brazil.”

Patrick Schmitt, 09.12.2010