Rafaela Pinto, general manager of MSTR, belonging to the Seixas Pinto family group, explained that the goal is to "strengthen the link with Angola and the Angolan market", betting on the differentiation of the wines.
Quinta da Terrincha, a 350 hectare property located in the Vilariça Valley in the heart of the Upper Douro in Portugal, was acquired by Odete Dias, Rafaela Pinto's grandmother, in 1994, and besides wine, it produces cheese, olive oil, and jams, and is also dedicated to wine tourism.
"We are making investments with our feet firmly on the ground and according to the family's conquests", who arrived in Angola in 2008, where they founded the Angolan company MSTR, which operates in the area of civil construction, focusing on the province of Bié.
"After almost 14 years, we wanted to bring a little bit of what is the Seixas Pinto family - because Quinta da Terrincha is a very important part of our lives - to Angola," said to Lusa the head of the project.
The first step has already been given with the opening of a store in its own name in a shopping center in Luanda, where the company offers its wines, cheeses made from the milk of churra sheep, organic olive oils and jams produced with local fruit, as well as articles of other Portuguese brands, including port wine, flavors and sausages, targeted to an upper middle range.
Despite the economic crisis that Angola is going through, which can be seen even in the weak movement of the shopping center, still with few stores open, Rafaela Pinto believes in this market.
"I believe it is possible to win in Angola and I deeply believe that we are in a country of opportunities. There is already a lot of wine in Angola, but I think that some differentiation was missing in the way it is marketed and how it reaches the customer, showing him that behind a bottle of wine there is a whole process of love", she commented.
The company invested 500 million kwanzas (667 thousand euros) to start exporting and commercializing the wine in stores, but is already promoting exploratory contacts to reach the restaurant and distribution sectors, as well as being present in other provinces.
Only in wine, Quinta da Terrincha, which already exports to China, invested about 100 million kwanzas (134,000 euros), said Pinto, stressing that "it is a priority not to have ruptures".
At the end of the year, the turnover should be at least double the investment, predicts the manager of Quinta da Terrincha.
"At this moment, we are analyzing the effective demand we will have in the market", she said, looking forward to the Christmas season.
"The store will work as a showcase of our product, but the goal is to reach, in the future, distribution chains and reference hotels and restaurants", continued the businesswoman.
Rafaela Pinto pointed out that the receptivity to the store has been positive, two weeks after its inauguration, receiving mostly Angolan clients "who associate Portuguese products with quality".
In the store there are wines available that cost from 10,000 kwanzas up to 183,000 kwanzas.
As for MSTR, and after a 100 percent drop in turnover last year due to covid-19, it is now in the recruitment phase and with several works underway in Cuíto (Bié), so that "expectations are very positive" for 2021 due to increased demand.
