Sommly 3x Wine Sales at Fermi

A Chef's Wine Dilemma

James, a world-renowned chef with 2 restaurants in Taipei, isn't your typical restaurant owner. As a former sous chef at Noma—once ranked the world's best restaurant—he is at the top of his game as a chef. But despite his impressive background, he had an Achilles' heel: He knows nothing about wine. This limitation wasn't just a personal frustration—it was affecting his business.

"I just don't drink that much wine. This created a huge gap in our revenue potential since wine sales drive restaurant profits."

His modern pasta restaurant, Fermi, designed for intimate dinners and dates, offered high-quality pasta that naturally called for wine pairings. However, they struggled to move bottles, missing crucial revenue.

Knowledge Gaps in a Competitive Market

Fermi tried several approaches to mitigate the issue:

• Hiring sommeliers: "They're expensive and scarce in Southeast Asia. I tried, but never found consistent results worth the cost."
• Working with suppliers: "They knew wine basics but not my dishes. They offered generic suggestions, not specific pairings. It wasn't really their job to create a tailored program, and I lacked the expertise to bridge that gap."
• Teaching myself: "I researched online and used my culinary instincts, but without actually drinking much wine, nothing stuck. The theory made sense, but I couldn't apply it confidently."

With rising operational costs threatening Fermi's sustainability, James needed to boost revenue. He recognized that improving his wine program and selling more bottles was the most effective path to enhancing his business's bottom line.

Enter Sommly

The Results Speak for Themselves

The impact of implementing Sommly at Fermi was immediate and substantial:

A Common Industry Problem, Solved

Chef James's experience highlights a challenge faced by countless restaurants globally. Restaurants face brutal economics, most fail in their first year, and margins are razor-thin. Any advantage to improve margins and sales—whether through food or wine—can make the critical difference between success and failure.

Many establishments struggle with having wine let alone a wine program. Qualified sommeliers are scarce and expensive. Without that expertise, servers often lack confidence in recommending wines. Meanwhile, diners stare blankly at wine lists, often settling for the house wine or skipping wine altogether. This knowledge gap costs restaurants potential revenue every night.

Sommly becomes an affordable alternative to expensive sommelier expertise, giving restaurants a fighting chance to survive and better serve their customers.

The Future: Better Wine, Better Moments, Better Business

Great wine pairings create two kinds of magic: meaningful moments for guests and sustainable success for restaurants.

"What Sommly provided wasn't just wine recommendations—it was a complete reimagining of how we present and sell wine. That made all the difference for our restaurant."

By bridging the wine knowledge gap, we're helping restaurants like Fermi create those perfect pairings that satisfy both the heart and the bottom line—turning curious diners into loyal regulars and struggling venues into thriving businesses.

For restaurants facing wine challenges, Sommly offers a practical path to both better human experiences and healthier profits.