Thoughts 08 - Detail

What’s in the Box?

Thinking back almost 20 years ago, one of my mentors expressed his views on the expression “Out of Box Thinking”. He said something like this: “There’s no such thing as out of box thinking, it doesn’t make sense. If it is out of your box it is out of reach. I think one would search within the box to find a solution.” We may be surprised what we can accomplish just by being detailed and creative with what’s around us.

The phrase “Out of Box Thinking” is in itself restrictive because that would mean there is a limit to what one can accomplish. Do you know how big your box is and how big can it be? From another angle, do you know what’s actually inside your box?

Speaking specifically in the context of the Food and Beverage industry, it baffles my mind some times when I see opportunities being missed due to negligence - both intentional and unintentional - that can easily avoided had a little more effort is put into the details, hence, searching within the box. At the same time, these businesses put in extra effort on things that are more visible but superficial rather than what really matters at the core.

I recently taught an Intro to Wine Tasting class where we discussed the reasons for wine tasting and the importance of tasting experiences. I have been wanting to put my thoughts together specifically about some subpar experiences I have had on my journey.

With positive intent in mind, the examples I share here will not mention the names of the establishments. I will also try my best to leave any identifiable information out to protect these businesses - for now. This is to hope that we as consumers will start demanding better quality in products and experiences. Also I hope that we can in turn encourage businesses to pay more attention to what really matters.

PRESTIGIOUS for the Sake of Being PRESTIGIOUS

This example was briefly mentioned in one of my previous articles, but it is definitely not an isolated case.

Years ago, I was approached by a very well known restaurant brand as a consultant to design their wine program at a new location. I think their organization had invested at least $100 million into the whole project including a beautiful interior designed by an award winning designer and a“State of the Art “ dining experience. All sounds great and ambitious on paper.

I asked them if they had thought about the kind of wines they want to carry, they told me “Everything”.

OK, that’s ambitious, let me think about how to make it work.

I was then shown their grandiose blueprint, it all started going downhill from this point. One of the dining sections has a table so large that it seemed unnecessarily grand and impractical. They have space to receive hundreds of diners, but did not plan enough space to properly store wines - it was not nearly enough. What’s more is that they only wanted one person to sell and serve the wines for the entire restaurant. This means, on a good day where the demand could reach or exceed their entire supply, they won’t even have the staff capacity to fulfill that demand.

After sharing my thoughts on the project specifically from HR and operational points of view, I decided to stop pursuing the consultation opportunity. Mainly because I realized that while the business is wiling to spend millions of dollars on decor, they are not willing to invest in its people and infrastructure. I do not know what became of the restaurant, but what I have heard is that the reviews are largely about their overpriced dishes with mixed ratings. No one talks about their wine program - if it exists. Perhaps I will pay them a visit some day just to see for myself.

Second time is the Charm?

First time I visited this winery was in 2020. I decided to pay them a visit after having tasted one of their Merlots. This Merlot was so opulent and full flavoured that it reminded me of the concentrated and complex style of a Fronsac - it was delicious. So I had a certain level of expectation when I visited the winery. I was poured what the attendant told me was their newer vintages of Merlot of the same level - it tasted like a Medoc (A Merlot and Cabernet dominant blend) so it was quite different than what I had expected. I shared that finding with the attendant - he did not seem surprised at the moment. Few moments later, he came back and told me “I am sorry, I mistakingly poured you our Bordeaux blend and told you it’s our Merlot.”

Ah…that makes a lot more sense.

The experience left me a bit off taste in my mouth, so to speak. I decided to reach out to the owner to share the experience with them. The owner assured me it will not happen again.

So fast forward to Summer 2021, I decided to visit them again. This time should be better, right?

I tasted two of their Chardonnays, both served few degrees higher than what they were supposed to - it was a hot summer if you remember - so the wines lacked the fresh fruits and is overpowering with alcohol.

Could it get worse? Yes it did.

I was then served a Merlot that smelled like apple cider vinegar. I was so confused as to how faulty wines could reach customer’s glasses unless it’s supposed to taste that way. When I expressed these findings, the attendant (I think it was the same one from the first visit), told me “Well, don’t drink it then.”

Should I go back the third time?

Same Different Pinot Noir

This winery was transferred to a new ownership few years ago and has a newly renovated tasting room. Their new products are largely along the lines of being off dry and simple. They do have a large inventory of back vintage wines made during the previous ownership.

I was invited to visit the winery earlier this year. Most wines were largely unimpressive, several older ice wines had developed off flavours too. However, their back vintage Pinot Noir was actually a very pleasant surprise - it was beautifully matured and complex. It was so good that I had decided to purchase a case of it. Note that the wine was made by the previous winemaker under previous management. This made me wonder why their brand awareness never really took off. Some of my industry friends know about this winery, perhaps they were more well known decades ago, but we don’t see their labels in liquor stores nowadays. I have also found out, to my further disappointment, the vineyard for this Pinot Noir is put on the market to be sold to a real estate developer - all that old vine will most likely be uprooted.

Now, this story is about that case of Pinot Noir I had purchased. The service was great, the case arrived within 3 days nicely packaged. First thing I noticed, however, was that these bottles have black plastic capsules instead of red aluminum capsules. At first, I paid them no mind, until I opened one of the bottles to taste. The wine with black capsule showed very little fruit, it was more peppery and savoury - so much so that I would not be surprised if this turned out to be an old Syrah. This flavour profile was drastically different than the perfumed dried strawberry and rose petals with complex elegance that made me buy a whole case of it. After an even closer comparison, the two glass bottles aren’t even the same colour. Only the labels were the same. What happened?

Positive intent in mind, I reached out to the new owner to share my findings. The owner did not even realize that there were two different bottling of the Pinot Noir from same vintage. The explanation I got was that they were bottled at different times and were aged in different kinds of barrels. If that’s really the case, they should not have used the same label for these wines. I don’t think I will ever know the answer. Wouldn’t making detail notes of all the product offerings be a common practice? Especially when you are buying the entire business?I guess it’s not as common as we may think.

Drive for Detail, Drive for Results

Food and Beverage industry is a very capital intensive one. Nothing about it is easy. So for any one entering this space, there has to be good reasons for it - at least that’s what I thought. I even heard one owner of a winery telling me that he/she is not so interested in wine while struggling to open a bottle using a butterfly corkscrew. Also heard the owner of another winery saying that good wines can be made just by spending money while they planted a vineyard on a flat land in a rainy location then surround it with tall trees blocking out most of the sun. The landscaping and tasting room looked expensive though.

I had found that many business operators and consumers alike, were attracted to this space because of the prestigious feeling and exterior glamour. However, they missed out on real opportunities by not paying attention to the details that really matter.

Back to Economics 101, if we as consumers demand higher quality, not just in wines but in better overall consumer experience, there will for sure be more supply of it. There are “Pro-sumers” in consumer technology, whey can’t there be more “Pro-sumers” in the Food and Beverage sector to drive that elevated appreciation trend? That being said, if you do encounter sub-par experiences, please be polite and respectful when providing feedback. Positive intent goes a long way - no business is easy to run after all.

Let’s start with ourselves.