In the mid-1990s, a then 300-year-old British wine company discovered a lucrative opportunity waiting for it in Japan by scanning boarding passes at its Heathrow Airport store.
"The data clearly demonstrated to us as early as 1994 that we had some very important potential customers who were flying first class to Tokyo," says Nicholas Pegna, Asia director at Berry Bros. & Rudd, Ltd.
Berry Bros. & Rudd first opened in 1698 in St. James's, London, where it still stands today. Over the last 320 years, it has established itself as a leading wine and spirits merchant, offering a range of services to a select pool of fine wine connoisseurs the world over. In addition to selling over 5,000 varieties of wines and spirits, the company offers storage, investment advice and even an online trading platform for collectors to buy and sell highly prized bottles among themselves.