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| Give me a Big B, says Paul John |
Meeting Paul is always a pleasure and a surprise. He appears cool, calm and collected in his casual attire no matter which way the business winds are blowing. His exports of furnishings to the US might be dormant because of the crashing housing sector; the prime back-water Kumarakom lake resort in Kerala and the newest hotel, The Paul in Bangalore venture are riding the low ebb like the rest of the hotels in India. Big Banyan wines are doing fine but the growth is not as he had anticipated. But one does not see any lines of anxiety on his face.
Perhaps it is because he is doing extremely well in his primary IMFL business. There is no recession in the sale of his Original Choice whisky where he maintains a leadership position in a few of the Southern states and is constantly expanding the reach and the volumes. Last year he sold 9m cases and hopes to touch 10m this year. He spent Rs.300 million recently to take over a distillery and will spend Rs. 250 million to refurbish it- more than some of the biggest wineries spend on their entire winery project (UB winery for instance would have spent Rs.400 million for the first phase of their Baramati project by next July).
Perhaps he knows that both his hotel properties are ‘hot’ and ‘best in class’ and is biding time, with the Bangalore property not even fully commissioned yet. Only one restaurant is operational, where I had some of the best Indian tandoori thanks to Chef Arya. The restaurant is on the lobby floor and full of greenery and pleasant motifs all around, giving the feeling of open spaces.
Perhaps he knows his brand Big Banyan is already well accepted in the markets he is plying in and would be ready to exploit when the market takes off.
‘We are disappointed with the direction the market has taken. The government policies are inconsistent, conflicting and confusing,’ he says blaming it as the major factor for the industry not taking off as it should have. He also blames the industry and the players. ‘There is so much unfair competition. Producers are so desperate that one-for-one or even more freebies are becoming a norm. Sometimes the hotels and restaurants expect money up front to list the wines-it is grossly unfair. At times, the freebies expected are more than the total sales made by the outlets throughout the year.’
‘We are extremely quality conscious and want to stay away from such practices. We cannot afford to reduce the quality. Each wine that fills the bottle has to be under the supervision of Lucio Matricardi, our Italian winemaker. He insists that since his name is in the bottle, every bottle must have impeccable quality,’ says Paul.
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| A View from the top:lobby-restaurant |
‘We plan to sell 10,000 cases this year. We sold 12,000 cases during the last couple of years since we launched our wines. We have decided to concentrate on the South market first-Karnataka, Goa, Andhra and Kerala as these are our home markets for distribution of our other alcoholic beverages. In Delhi, we took the excise license during the past year but we have decided not to renew this year for the same reason.’ Are they planning any new additions, this year, I ask? ‘We are bringing out a Rose and a Late Harvest Moscato on experimental basis-but the emphasis will be more on the Rose. We want to concentrate on our five basic variants right now- Shiraz, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc. But we are fully prepared to get into the expansion mode the moment the demand picks up.’
Paul’s wine company, Chateau de Banyan is using several techniques and innovations to stay on top. Any corner of Bangalore, where they have full concentration, can get a home delivery for up to 9 liters of wine-the upper limit prescribed by law. A sommelier service is provided for banquets if required, including the wine glasses, if needed. Corporate sales are on the growth path with seminars, appreciation events and corporate gift ideas helping along. Despite the additional duty imposed by Karnataka, the company seems to be doing well in its home state.
Although Bangalore is Paul’s home state, he does not run a winery in Karnataka due to the laws which have changed for the better only recently. He has land with 25 acres of vines. This was the second year of experimental cops and the comments from the Italian research institutes are very encouraging and ‘we shall be looking at various means by which to add appropriate varietal for the region.'
Going with the flow has also made things less stressful for Paul and his Big Banyan wines. ‘We had an inkling during the middle of last year that the market would not maintain its growth during the year and we immediately decided to cut back on our production plans. So now, we don’t have to worry about excess stocks like some of our big competitors.’
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| Paul at The reception area |
The Paul is a beautiful, boutique business hotel with a capacity of 52 rooms. Each room is a suite- with plush facilities including LCD/Plasma TVs in each room. The best part is that the internet is provided free in every room as well as wi- fi in the atrium-styled lobby including the restaurant. The swimming pool is rather small but the gym is huge with multiple exercise machines. Health conscious clients will have no reason to complain in this area. Even the hotel non residents can enjoy the facilities by paying only Rs.16, 500 for 50 flexi - use days in one year.
Several efforts have gone into detailing in the property-although the approach which is not the easiest from the ‘inner ring road’, would make this property a businessman’s delight when fully operational- with another specialty restaurant to be commissioned shortly.
And if the similar details and passions are going into each wine bottle, Big Banyan will be a name to reckon with in the wine world-at least in South India, in the immediate future.
Subhash Arora |