And it was precisely during the pandemic that you opened the gourmet
shop?
We knew
that the world wouldn’t stop forever because of a pandemic, that is to say,
just like in a crisis, things go back to normal. My family already had business
connected to winegrowing for a few years, which started in Portugal, with
Quinta da Terrincha, and when I came to Angola (until then only men in the
family had come here, I was the only woman to come) of course I brought this
more intimate and refined side of the family. The company MSTR is based in Bié,
I stayed in Luanda as the administrative head of the company. The Fortaleza
shopping centre opened in December 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, I
visited the space and realised it had the potential to stand out from the rest
with the gourmet shop. At the time, they asked me why open in a shopping centre
with no shops, at a time of pandemic, in a country in crisis. We believed that
we had the possibility to make a go of it here. I always knew that I would
bring something different, that I would present wine in a different way. We
want to show people squarely who we are, wine is not just for drinking, wine
has a story behind it. So the first step was to open a shop. This year we are
going to take another step. We have five ranges of wine, the latest one, Terrincha, then we have Quinta da Terrincha, which is one range
up, we have the two Reservas, this is always the case with red and
white, and last year we launched a Grande Reserva. We cater to a high-end
target group and so this year, as we want to reach other people, we are going
to launch a lower range of wine in September, which will be called Pêra Amarela, so that we can also be
present in supermarkets.
What can we find in the gourmet shop?
The shop is
very much focused on Quinta da Terrincha products, mostly wine, which is our
main product. Besides that, we have olive oil, jams made from our fruit and
sheep and goat cheese. Then, because it is a new shop, and because it is
essential to create the need for the customer to come to us, we brought
Castelbel, a Portuguese fragrance brand, and Nespresso, because it’s a much
sought-after product, and can’t always be found in the large supermarkets. The
concept of the shop was to bring our products, but to set up a gourmet shop. Something
with quality. We also have almonds, from Torre de Moncorvo. And we also have
two partnerships with Iva Viana (who makes flowers in plaster) and Sofia
Sustelo (who makes ceramics with touches of gold).
«I always
knew that I would bring something different, that I would present wine in a
different way»