When Lim Jing Zhe joined 1855 The Bottle Shop, his family’s wine retail business, in 2016, he expected a better work-life balance, having bade farewell to 100-hour work weeks in his previous job in investment banking. It turned out to be quite the opposite.
Currently, 1855 The Bottle Shop imports 80 percent of their wines directly from wineries. Lim plans to increase this figure to 85 or 90 percent. “We have been moving towards this direction, but the pandemic pushed us to accelerate this initiative. When we source wines directly from more wineries, we can provide a more competitive price and reduce markups,” he said.
Unsure about his career path then, he decided to return to Singapore, making good on the promise to his father that’d he come home after his studies. Dad persuaded him to join the family business. He joined the purchasing team to learn about procuring wines. Still fresh from his spell in finance, he began scrutinising the sales data, trying to analyse which wines made the highest profits.
“These days, our customers don’t view wine as just a beverage anymore. They are getting more inquisitive and asking more educated questions about wines. They look for wines that tell a story.”“These days, our customers don’t view wine as just a beverage anymore. They are getting more inquisitive and asking more educated questions about wines. They look for wines that tell a story.
“You’d find 2018 or 2019 Bordeaux vintages in other wine merchants. But for us, we’ll evaluate to see if there is a need to bring in something so young,” said Lim. “We’d prefer to have most, if not half, of our Bordeaux stocks to be at least 10 years old. A lot of top Bordeaux wines are meant to be drunk at a certain age – that’s when you’d get the secondary and tertiary aromas and flavours.
“[After COVID-19], I think a lot of people will continue drinking at home. It’s here to stay," said Lim.
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