Isabeau Sas sends its customers a wine package every month. “I want to rid wine of its dusty image.”
A year ago, Isabeau Sas (34) was still packing boxes of wine, but that is a thing of the past. ‘It has become too busy, because the turnover of my wine webshop Our Daily Bottle has doubled in the past year, partly due to corona,’ says the young entrepreneur. Sas has been sending a package with two bottles of wine to its customers every month since 2016. They pay 25 or 35 euros. “It’s about an affordable and a more premium package.”
The larger wineries are more difficult to convince. Much of the sector continues to operate traditionally.
Sas does a lot himself: find winegrowers, visit them, import wine and make a corresponding brochure. ‘For a while now I have been calling on a logistics worker and another permanent staff member. There are also a few interns. I put my former main job as a marketing consultant on the back burner, because my online store is growing so fast. ‘ She does not provide concrete financial figures.
The fear that Sas had a year ago has not come true. Due to the corona virus, people would keep their finger on the trim and save on spending on wine. ‘But nothing turned out to be further from the truth. They drink more wine than for corona. Because of the virus, they also shop online a lot more, which is also a good thing for my company. ‘
Stellenbosch
Sas ended up in the wine world rather by accident. During her bachelor’s degree in language and literature in Leuven, she went on exchange to the university of Stellenbosch in South Africa. ‘There I was sucked into the vineyards. I did a student job there. ‘
She stuck. ‘I did my master’s degree in linguistics there and then started working for a local winery. Later I moved to Bordeaux, where I followed a management course in wine business and marketing. Afterwards I started working for a French wine company, which sent me to its sales department in California. ‘
We look abroad. We have taken our first steps in the Netherlands, France and Germany.
In 2014 the motherland beckoned. ‘With my business model for Our Daily Bottle I took part in an entrepreneurial competition of the Flemish government. I saw an opportunity to rid wine of its somewhat dusty image. At the time, the sector was hardly involved with e-commerce. ‘
Sas won winegrowers for her digital plans. ‘It is attractive to them that I attract a young audience. Selecting and tasting wine takes a lot of time, but I also receive a lot of spontaneous applications from winegrowers. The larger wineries are more difficult to convince. Much of the sector continues to operate traditionally. ‘
Although the past corona year Our Daily Bottle yielded a lot of growth, the young entrepreneur is not yet saturated. ‘Even though selling alcohol abroad is very complex due to legislation, we are eager to go abroad. We have taken our first steps in the Netherlands, France and Germany. ‘
