An at-home wine and cheese tasting experience launched by a Greater Manchester former bar owner has seen 500% growth during the pandemic.
Carl Peters is owner of Decent Drop, and just before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, he was about to sign a deal to open a new bar in Altrincham.
But he paused that deal, and instead went about setting up his new business, which involved "bringing some version of a bar experience to people's homes".
Within four months, Carl said he has seen "unprecedented growth" - with orders increasing 500% on average month-on-month. He's also had celebrity customers including BBC Breakfast presenter Dan Walker.
He said: “As for many others, the pandemic was a real spanner in the works for my original business plans, but I then realised it was an opportunity to start something new. I wanted to ensure that the good folks of Great Britain continued to consume great drinks and have a great social experience, despite the restrictions.
“We’ve already seen an amazing response and our Zoom calls have been busy with customers really enjoying the tastings. I then realised that there was another angle to the tastings – private and office parties. Every bar I’ve ever worked in, or owned, has always had a great ‘after work’ crowd and I realised that with office life looking a little different, people may be missing out on the social aspect of their work environment.
“Decent Drop has already proven the perfect way to get a work team together for a virtual social and we have now witnessed a big appetite for our online tastings from folks who work together and are kind of missing each other, sometimes more than they would like to admit."
Available across the 海角视频, Decent Drop offers a curated menu of six wines, paired with six cheeses sent to customers who are then invited to join an interactive Zoom tasting session or host their own wine and cheese night with their friends and family.
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Mr Peters said he intends to build on this continued growth and is now gearing up for a season of virtual office Christmas parties.
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He said the 'private tasting' option is proving to be the ideal platform for client engagement, particularly in the legal and financial services sectors.
"The experience serves as a way of keeping in touch with clients in an informal way and as a replacement for the typical social and business development events that people would usually be attending at this time of year," Mr Peters said.
He added: “The Christmas parties are filling up our diary for the coming months and although we want nothing more than for the bar industry to be back on its feet, we recognise that the restrictions are making large parties difficult to arrange.
“What’s more, because we offer the public tastings each week, our vouchers are a great Christmas gift for team members who can then choose to purchase a tasting kit for a time to suit them.
“Our main aim with Decent Drop is to bring a unique experience to those who may not have tried this kind of thing before. We wanted to ensure an offering that was both fun and informative and could serve as a kind of ‘night out’ from your living room.”