Focus on HK as fine wine market looks east
Monday, 18 August 2008
HONG KONG, Aug 17 (AFP): Just weeks after Hong Kong scrapped a 40-per cent duty on wine this year, American entrepreneur and oenophile Stephen Bachmann flew here to investigate business opportunities.
This autumn Bachmann, who runs a fine wine company in San Francisco, will open a major storage facility in the southern Chinese territory in the hope of cashing in on Asia's booming appetite for the grape.
The former investment banker says that even before the import tax cut in February, almost half his company's business was coming from online buyers in Hong Kong and Macau.
"It was a bit like New York City suddenly coming online overnight," he says.
"Someone lifted a curtain and there was this gleaming city full of people who wanted to spend money on wine.
"I came over in March, which was just just after the duty cut, and thought, well, here's an opportunity, let's do it now."
Bachmann's company Vinfolio was among 240 exhibitors here this week for the first home-grown wine fair in Hong Kong, which is keen to market itself as the gateway to China's growing middle class as well as a trading hub.
Asia's wine consumption has risen sharply in recent years and the trend looks set to continue. The industry projects annual growth in the continent of between 10 and 20 per cent over the next five years, compared with one per cent growth worldwide, with China leading the charge.
Gregory De'eb, co-founder of the Hong Kong fine wine storage company Crown Wine Cellars, says the former British colony's decision to abolish the duty is one of the most significant wine industry developments of the past 100 years.
This autumn Bachmann, who runs a fine wine company in San Francisco, will open a major storage facility in the southern Chinese territory in the hope of cashing in on Asia's booming appetite for the grape.
The former investment banker says that even before the import tax cut in February, almost half his company's business was coming from online buyers in Hong Kong and Macau.
"It was a bit like New York City suddenly coming online overnight," he says.
"Someone lifted a curtain and there was this gleaming city full of people who wanted to spend money on wine.
"I came over in March, which was just just after the duty cut, and thought, well, here's an opportunity, let's do it now."
Bachmann's company Vinfolio was among 240 exhibitors here this week for the first home-grown wine fair in Hong Kong, which is keen to market itself as the gateway to China's growing middle class as well as a trading hub.
Asia's wine consumption has risen sharply in recent years and the trend looks set to continue. The industry projects annual growth in the continent of between 10 and 20 per cent over the next five years, compared with one per cent growth worldwide, with China leading the charge.
Gregory De'eb, co-founder of the Hong Kong fine wine storage company Crown Wine Cellars, says the former British colony's decision to abolish the duty is one of the most significant wine industry developments of the past 100 years.