Ep 2387 Elena Shtepa of Vintage Bishkek | Asia Wine Market: Almaty Special Edition

Elana is one of the key figures shaping the wine culture in Kyrgyzstan. She is a co owner of the Vintage wine restaurant chain, a CEO of Iowa, the first time we have school in the country. And together with her family, she also runs Enoteca import company. Okay. So now let's move on to our key learning objectives for today. First of all, we're going to understand the evolution of wine culture and consumer awareness in Kyrgyzstan. Second, we are going to learn about the import and the distribution landscape. And third, we are going to identify current trends, gaps, and opportunities for the Italian producers in this market. So let's dive in. Welcome to Asia wine market Almati special edition with me, your host Rosa. In this special series, we're exploring the growing wine culture of Kazakhstan, with almighty at the heart of it all. Each episode will meet with Italian wine professionals, importers, psalms, and producers who are shaping the future of wine in central Asia. Whether you are a winery looking to expand into new markets or a local export curious about the market dynamics, you are in the right place. Hello, and welcome to a new episode of Asia wine market Almotho special edition. And today, we have a very special guest from Kyrgyzstan. Elena Stepa. Elena is one of the key figures shaping the wine culture in Kyrgyzstan. She is a co owner of the Vintage wine restaurant chain. They currently have four venues and a CEO of IWine, the first family is school in the country. And together with her family, she also runs Enotteka import company, and the inspiration to create this company, and also the name came after Journey through Italy. So welcome, Elena. We are very happy to have you here today. Thank you. Hello, everyone. And, yes, that's true. Everything came from Italy. So I'm very glad to be here. Thank you for inviting me, and I'm quite exciting to start our podcast. I think that's a destiny. The inspiration came from Italy, and you're being interviewed for the Italian wine podcast. Yes. It's a great project. Thanks a lot. Let's start from the very beginning. How did your journey into the world of wine began? And what motivated you to start doing that? How are you already set? Maybe it's really destiny because connection to wine started from my childhood because my father, his winemaker, my grandfather, his winemaker, but it's not about production. I mean, it's, more like hubby, but I spent my childhood with all these. We were together with my friends. We're harvesting. For example, So I have kind of trauma because of this, and I think I will never be in a wine production, I think. So I enjoy mostly the result of all of this. And I sell wine, and it's started, more professionally, I think, closer to my twenties. When my brother, he went to Italy with his wife, and he was so inspired by wine culture by attitude of Italian people to wine. He was so inspired and he brought this passion to Kyrgyzstan. Of course, I took his passion. Actually, at first time, he kind of asked me to help a bit in his business, and I gave myself two years to look if it fits me. And of course, now I'm going deeper and deeper to this culture. I'm fully into this, and I want to grow. I want to grow culture in my country. I want to show to follow the world that Kyrgyzstan exists. In Italy, people don't understand understand when I say Kyrgyzstan because they usually think that it's but it's not Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan is in central Asia, and the pronunciation in Italian is, like, Kudajikistan, something like this. So going back to my thought, I got this passion from my brother, and wine culture is very white, and it's very interesting and deep. And I want to show to people in my country and also people abroad that Kyrgyzstan exists. Kyrgyzstan can because we have all the resources to make our own wine product. And I'm very inspired by our neighbors, Kazakhstan, that they already have Arba wine, that's cool. But now in Kyrgyzstan, we are at the first step making wider the wine culture in our market. I must say that I think it's really important for our countries, for neighboring countries to work together because if one of us does great, another country will do great as well because it's easier when you work together not just trying to show who's doing better or who's developing faster at this matter because the wine culture in our countries is kinda not in our blood. Meat is in our blood, I think, but not wine. So that's why we have to work together on that matter. That is very important. Yes. Sure. I agree. And here, I must say for our listeners, on Instagram, if you just check vintage, the wine venues that Elena has, you're gonna see how cool they arranged everything and also what kind of activities they do to promote wines and to interact with their consumers. I really think you're doing a great job. Thank you so much. Yes. That's a great job because, you know, in our not wine, drinking countries, There are a lot of stereotypes that one is difficult, that one is something luxurious, so that one is not for me. I will not understand. So we are trying to make through our promotion to show that one is friendly, one is interesting, and it is space of a lot of enjoyment, I think. Yes. A lot of enjoyment and you can have a great dinner, for example, because the main thing, the key thing in the wine is not alcohol, but taste. It's very mind breaking among our people when they see that they can have only one glass during one evening, not hold water, and you can just enjoy one glass. And that's it. Mhmm. That's really important to make people understand that wine is not as intimidating as it might seem, I agree with that. Okay. So now let's move on to our key learning objectives for today. So first of all, we're going to understand the evolution of wine culture and consumer awareness in Kyrgyzstan. Second, we are going to learn about the import and the distribution landscape. We're gonna learn about the major players and how international producers, especially Italian ones, can successfully enter the Curtis Mark And third, we are going to identify current trends, gaps, and opportunities for the Italian producers in this market. So let's dive in. First of all, I would like you to give us a brief overview of Kyrgyzstan. It's population, major cities, and anything else that might be helpful to understand the market context. So, Kyrgyzstan is not a big country in Central Asia. So we are about seven million people. The main city in wine consumption is capital, of course. It's Bishkek, where focused all the businesses, hotels. We have another big city, for example, Osh or Jalabakh, but So they are not developed in wine consumption. I think the perspective in the future, we have in more touristic places like Caracol in issacol, but it's still not developed there. We are trying to look our opportunities in also in this city. But, of course, yes, main city is Bishkek. People here in Kyrgyzstan, they are used to drink more high level alcohol, and they were not interested in wine. So when we came to the market seven years ago, nobody was drinking wine. Nobody knew about wine. I'm not gonna lie. Maybe a couple of private, cafes brought their own wine through their own import, but it was very few quantities of this. When we came to the market, my brother, he saw the opportunities in Hodacom distribution, but all the cafes, all the hotels were like, oh, nobody drinks wine. Why should we buy this? He was like, okay. But some hotels and cafes and Horaka branch, they bought it. And of course, the price was very, very high. My brother decided to open his own shop, wine shop where he will show people that wine is affordable where he will show how to taste one. So first of all, our project started from the shop. And now we grew in this five years to chain of four restaurants every day meeting every guest by ourself. It's not very wide in our country when the owner or the family or the owner hosts people and, talk to them. So making this very close connection to our customers, we really made a great job, and we, I think, made wine more trendy here. And now from Horica, people come to us because we made this demand from people and we grew this culture a bit. It's not so developed, like, in Almatino, for example, I think we are quite far still from Almaty development of one culture bought still. But you're doing a great job. By the way, I've got a question here. You said that population in Kyrgyzstan is around seven million people, but what about Bishkek? About one and a half million people. So all the wine consumption concentrated to only this population. Okay. Got it. So you already told us how it was before and how it is now. Let's talk about consumers? What kind of trends are you seeing in consumer purchasing behavior? What kind of wines are popular among the consumers nowadays? Nowadays per second, of course, it's very popular now. Also, thanks to our partners from Italy. They helped us to make a great promotion because three years ago, people here were drinking sparkling wines only for New Year's Eve for some holiday, another might be birthday or something like this twice a year. But now we have in our shops and our restaurants for second buy glasses. So people got used to this and it's very, very popular now. But still, I think we could have more development in this, style of wine because, in our country, we have only two labels of prosecco, and that's it. So it's still quite empty prosecco. The welcome prosecco producer to us. Well, yeah, I hope the consortium and all the producers will hear that that there is a huge gap here. And who are those producers? If you can share with us this information. So our partner is this Cadalsette winery. And, from other distributor, I don't know the producer. I can say only about our partner. Okay. So in your portfolio, you have one producer as for now? Yeah. In our portfolio, we have only one producer, but last year, we met in Win Italy in Omote, another producer. And already, I went to visit their winery during my wine tour, I think we can start to work together. Yeah. Mhmm. What is the name of that producer? It is blend the winery. Okay. Thank you. Okay. So we already started talking about your portfolio. How many producers do you work with for your portfolio? And what is the percentage of Italian wines in it? And also, maybe you can share some of the names with us. So we have in our portfolio about fifteen producers. I mean, producers with whom we were directly talking about SKU. We have around three hundred SKU. Seventy percent of our portfolio. Of course, it's Italian wine because our passion started from Italy and we don't have French wines, for example, because we're going to district promotion of Italian brands. We work with cuddles etcetera. I already told you from Tuscany. It's tenuto de Fratermita. Brunelle de Montalchino. It's called Delamo. Potera paroditiono. Tenuto de from PMont, for example, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Okay. Got it. And you already told us sparkling wise, Praseco is dominating. But what about white wines? I kinda already know the answer probably. Tell white wines and red wines. Who are the bigger players in this market? Which regions or styles? I think it really depends on the weather because, of course, during the summer, people drink more white wine. Of course, there's red wine consumption still exist. We have a lot of meats in our gastronomy. So about styles. Of course, it's been a great job because it's very easygoing. It's very understandable, nice wine to start your introduction to dry wines because in our country, dry wines were not so popular, and we also have very strict rule in our shop that we don't have, semi sweet wines, for example, that people got used to drink after post soviet mentality where semi sweet wines were so wide in the market. There were a lot of them. And people, of course, they ask for semi sweet wines, but they ask not because they don't like dry wines They ask because they don't know how to find their own style in dry wines. So we start from Pino, and then we can go to Wazilla, for example, or to Arbalocha or some of something more old, etcetera, etcetera. Let's start from Pinacrujo. Mhmm. And red wine wise? Among red wine, we have two most popular styles. It's, of course, Kianti. And, the second style, it's from Veneta made by apacemental methods made by soft pressing with soft tannins with just a little bit of residual sugar. So they are easy drinking. I'm talking about labels, like, apacyanante Stranero Amanta from Cadalsette winery. Alright. Got it. Thank you. And right now, let's go back to the consumers. Who are the typical wine consumers? In Kyrgyzstan today? Could you share with us maybe the age range? And if the younger generation is getting more interested in the wine culture too? Mostly people who drink wine that you are thirty five plus And, it is women who drink mostly wine. Of course, women bring their husbands, for example, and step by step, also men come and, discover something interesting for them too, and they also start to quit vodka drinking and start going to a more friendly alcohol. Maybe I can say like this because a really with wine, you can enjoy more your evening than with, some more aggressive alcohol. So, yeah, wine is about aesthetics. Oh, of course, it's about taste and, mostly women are into this. But they are showing to their partners or to men how it's interesting. Okay. Got it. Thank you. Could you walk us through the one import and distribution scene? So we already know about your company, which is I remind our listeners that is called Enotteka, who are the other major wine importers and distributors in Kyrgyzstan. Maybe you can share some of the names. So in our country, we don't have a lot of wine distributors. We have not more than ten companies. Main companies, for example, Forrester or Legon, they are focused on supermarkets in Horeca. They don't have their own restaurants, like we, for example, like, it is focused on big brands. For example, Marsh and Don, and Forrester. They have also Italian brands. And I know also a couple of distributors are focused mostly in French wines and one very small only Italian wine distributor. And what is the name of that small Italian wine distributor? Actually, I don't remember the name, but I know that owner of this company, his name is Maurito. He started a business here. Don't remember the name. Okay. And what are some of the main challenges international producers, including the Italian ones faced when trying to enter the market in Kyrgyzstan. I think the main challenge is all these stereotypes that one is not for us, for example, also one of the challenges that I can say, it can be connected with our government because we have not stable rules and every year. Everything can change with a snap of a finger and your partner here in the country should be very flexible to survive in this, instability. You should have a very good partner to whom you will trust who can do this ice breaking with customers to make a really nice promotion because when you are not so close to your customers, it will be impossible to show that, your product is great. Also, the market is not very big. We are small market. But it also can be advantage for now because we are at very first steps. So we are just beginning to creating our wine industry here. So I think people and producers who can join the market now, they will have, great job in the future because people now only start to be introduced to wines. Even though the market is small because We didn't have the wine culture, like European countries. Actually, here, there is a potential to create trends. Introduce some styles and make people love them because they didn't develop their taste in wine yet, their preferences. Yeah. It's a great opportunity to teach people how to enjoy your product. Exactly. Okay. Could you briefly walk us through the operational process of importing wines? To Kyrgyzstan. In our company, I mostly do the orders from wineries. I choose the one what will be great, what will have the great potential in our market. But my sister, he does mostly logistics, I can say that, logistics is very difficult. It takes, around two months to come here and the most difficult time when it's too cold or it's too hot and So we are choosing the gaps in time when it's, just normal, stable weather, or we're taking refrigerators to bring wines about taxes and custom So you pay twelve point five percent to each bottle for the custom clearance or for a custom duty. It take twelve point five percent. Okay. What about the value added tax in Kyrgyzstan nowadays? Is quite the same twelve percent. Okay. For now, in our country, it's also twelve percent, but they're increasing it. So from the next year, all the prices gonna go up. Let's now move to some of the gaps maybe. So we already talked about some popular styles among consumers who are just starting. But what about some of the styles that you are introducing to your consumers? Like, for example, after you are also teaching at IWine Kyrgyzstan. So probably there you have, like, more upgraded consumers So which styles are getting popular among them besides the ones that you already mentioned? People are interested in orange wines now. People are interested in, and also it's why it's also close to our tastes. I'm thinking about bringing Aetna to make more white. Our portfolio to start to introduce people to Aetna. I'm thinking about to bring French So we have a lot of styles that people still don't know. So we are quite opened. For example, now, we brought our bottle to Faith variety from Tantinut Roletta. It's very small production of Erbolucci in Italy, but people enjoy, and we also have sparkling wine from Arbolucci. It's very nice. People just react very well. Okay. So there are lots of gaps to be filled. Yeah. Lots of gaps. People here got used to already to San Joza. We have one hundred styles of San Joza. Mhmm. People know San Joza very well, but yeah, of course, there are a lot of different, another great varieties that can be introducted here. But also, again, you said Sanjay has so many different styles too. That is why we love Italy. So diverse, and even one grape variety can make so many different styles. Mhmm. Okay. Now let's also talk about the price points long ago, for example, in our market, it was quite difficult to sell wines with the middle range price points. So people who are buying some cheaper wines or very expensive wines. And the middle range wines with good quality price ratio, they were quite hard to sell. Now in Kazakhstan, it's becoming better, but what about Kyrgyzstan? It's interesting because the average price, for example, in our restaurant, it's it's about fifteen, twenty euro. So I think it's quite middle in the range of prices. We don't bring two cheap wines and we don't bring two expensive wines because we think that our market is not fully ready. For example, very nice, great, super tuscany that will cost a lot because people here, they can white, try. They will not understand it. They paid a lot, and they will have more negative emotions from this not positive. Of course, we have a little bit of bottles of super tuscany. We are introducing step by step, but most of the market is not ready. I think now, yep, it's mostly middle priced range around fifteen, twenty euro here. When we are talking about, supermarkets, of course, it's not more than eight euro. Okay. Got it. It's almost time for us to wrap it up. But before doing that, do you have anything else to add? I was thinking that it's also important to mention that people here takes wines that are more than fifty euro already premium range. So, yep, around fifteen, forty euro, it is still affordable. It is still nice, so to sell wines like this. Okay. Got it. And here, I've got a question. So the same bottle of wine that costs a certain amount in Italy, this same bottle of wine, how much it's gonna cost in Kyrgyzstan. Is it twice more, three times more or four times more? It depends on partnership. Our partners from Tuscany, for example, to the the Fraternita. They have on shop, and, the wine in their shop costs the same price that the wine costs here in Kyrgyeston. So it definitely depends on the partnership on the perspectives that we we can have together, etcetera. Mhmm. Okay. As I already said, it's almost time for us to wrap it up. But before doing that, I've got some rapid fire questions for you just to finalize the episode. And if you could answer them with a couple of sentences, that would be great. So what's one key thing Italian wineries should keep in mind when entering the market in Kyrgyzstan? So key things are that we are very young market. We are not very big. We are small market but it's very good opportunity to start work with us to develop the market with us, and you shouldn't be scared of this because it's a work for the future. We are growing. We are on developing very slowly, but it also gives its own profit. And of course, as I already mentioned, the main thing is to find good partner. So you you should definitely have the partner who will have the passion to your product, and you should have connection between YouTube, of course. Yeah. That's true. And sometimes, like, even the economic profit is not that important. It's important. It's still business. Like, even wine, it's still business. It's important, of course, but this connection between partners, it gives much more opportunities to develop your brand in in the market. Okay. So the second question will be if you could introduce one new wine trend or grape variety to Kyrgyzstan, what would it be and why? Yes. Now, I'm thinking about Aetna wineries, Aetna wines, mostly Norella Moskeleza. I think it is a very interesting wine to introduce because of its very special terroir, and also it has great storytelling. So, yep, I'm thinking about Aetna mines. We still don't have it. Okay. Got it. Yeah. That's beautiful. And I agree with you that you pointed out that it has a great storytelling behind for a good marketing campaign. Yeah. That's true. And the third question is going to be not related to wine. If you weren't working in wine, what other profession or industry could you see yourself in? I think something connected with art because when I started to work with wine, I really believe that, wine production is a very difficult art, and winemaker is the artist. So that's why I like wine so much. You can have this very nice link between wine and art. For example, painting with music, and this strong link also helps us to promote one to make nice associations with wine, for example. But, yes, of course. While I'm working with wine, I think I could be, for example, painter or musician because I I paint and I play drums So something like this. That's nice. Okay. I must say that. I'm very very happy that you could make it to this interview. It was really hard to to schedule our conversation. You're just doing so many things at a very young age. I'm really grateful to you that you could find this time to talk with us Thank you. But I'm not alone. I have all my family together with me. Like, we were inspired by Italian business, families because it's not common in our mentality to make business together with families. So I have brother who opened the company who has this strategy vision. I have my sister who does logistics. I have nephew who work, like, waiter, niece, who paints, walls in our restaurants. And of course, my mom She's a counter. So all the money has my mom not to be here. So, yeah, the most challenging today was to find the quiet place to talk to you. So thanks god. We are here and thank you for this dialogue for your questions. Thank you. Okay. So on this note, we're gonna finish the conversation. Thanks a lot. Chow. Ciao. Thanks for listening to Asia wine market Almati special edition. Don't forget to subscribe and follow the Italian wine podcast wherever you get your parts. And if you are curious to discover more about the central Asian wine scene, join us at the Vineet Lake College on July seventh. See you in the next episode. And until then, cheers from Alma.