Sara and Luca Menato, co-founders of Sommelier Wine Box and respectively CMO and CEO, CFO of the company are selling happiness in a glass of wine (or maybe more)!
How fun is that?
I really love the idea that you can be surprised even as an adult and experience the magic of the unknown after 10!
Sara and Luca had the brilliant idea to show Italians and the world that a product we all know and we are all used to drink has still a lot to give and can still evolve.
Enjoy this interview with two talented young entrepreneurs who believe happiness is in quality and not quantity.
Challenging the Agrifood Indutry Status Quo with Sommelier Wine Box
Q: What comes to your mind when you think about the concept of sustainability?
To us, sustainability means being able to flourish, explore, enjoy, invent things that didn’t exist before... in a word to live, without shutting the ability of future generations to do the same. And this should be pursued both as single individuals and at the community level.
Q: How do you guarantee sustainability with your brand?
We try to do our part to guarantee sustainability firstly by promoting quality over quantity; then, researching, monitoring, and communicating on the approach of the wine world to sustainability; and of course choosing artisanal wineries which are guided by respect for both Nature and consumer in all their activities. Today, an increasing number of Italian niche farms have a biodynamic approach: they are essential examples to influence the entire sector. We search and look for those kinds of wineries to be inserted in our wine boxes and we also dedicate a few selections, specifically to natural and biodynamic wines.
Speaking about the product, our packages are 100% recyclable without any use of plastic; moreover, more than 90% of our cardboard box comes from recycled material. But most of all, what I feel is worth underlining is the fact that we have sustainability as a “must” and we constantly keep it on top of our mind: we want to find new ways to operate in order to have the least impact on the environment possible. And the strongest – positive – impact of people’s lives.
Q: Special projects or plans for the future?
At the beginning of the pandemic, we started working a lot on the idea of bringing happiness to each person’s home. According to this object, we designed new solutions and gifts, to be able to fit each one's tastes and desires: wine boxes which are tailored to each person's palate; set of wine boxes (and their relative in-depth materials) designed to be a learning path for wine-enthusiasts without real wine knowledge; solutions for expert wine-lovers to deepen more this magic world.
In the future we will be continuously shaping Sommelier Wine Box in order to meet people’s needs, always providing high value and quality. We know that this approach is somehow revolutionary, and we can only see positive effects of it.
Q: How do you envision the future of sustainability in your field?
Sustainability is the future of all businesses, of the wine world, and agrifood tech as well. In this field, the most important challenges at hand are in my opinion within the production side, packaging and delivery.
Agriculture can be the human activity that preserves our world or that contributes ruining it: we must go for the first one. This will mean not only special, unique and genuine wines but also beautiful and diverse landscapes, where different crops coexist with forests, wild animals and bees…
The agrifood tech is questioning a lot on the impact of the packaging that products need, on the necessity to go for solutions that are 100% recyclable. Personally, I feel that among the most important challenges there’s also transportation and home delivery, to be zero impact in a few years.
More generally, the challenge we face is to keep creating a culture of respect for the resources at all levels, along with the pleasure of living in harmony with the environment and with other people.
We are the first who brought the “wine club” model to Italy, shaping it as a way to discover the rarest Italian wine excellence. This is possible because wine is also a matter of discovering hidden wineries, realities which focus on quality instead of quantity, run by very passionate people who are known just among small groups of experts.
We can offer this kind of quality and value thanks to the competence of some of the most talented Italian sommeliers, with whom we collaborate. Every month, a different sommelier chooses an oenological theme for us and selects three small-size wineries to be discovered. In this way, every month our clients receive a mystery box with three excellent wines, along with tasting notes, pairings, and other wine tips. On one hand, the added value relies on the wine selection: as we can offer products that one wouldn’t find online or which wouldn’t be purchased without an expert’s advice. In a word: we want to make the wine world accessible and comprehensible to all.
On the other hand, enriching the subscription box model with new and curated contents every month, we designed Sommelier Wine Box as a learning process as well: a very practical and super enjoyable one.
Q: Sommelier Wine Box brings a new concept to the audience, can you tell us more?