Marcus Ford, Asia Market Manager for Wines of South Africa, is a judge at the Decanter Asia Wine Awards 2019
Marcus Ford
Hong Kong born Marcus Ford started in the wine and food business at Oddbin’s in the UK and as a Pastry Chef in Hong Kong to fund trips around Asia during his student years. After a degree in French and European literature he joined Harvey Nichols and for opening of the Oxo Tower restaurant in London.
An opportunity to move back to Asia in 1999 took him to M on the Bund in Shanghai which grew from an 80 seat restaurant and bar to a multi-venue restaurant, bar and cultural centre hosting up to 800 guests a night. In 2009 Marcus left “M” to establish one of China’s first premium wine retailers “Pudao Wines”, opening award winning flagship stores in Shanghai and Beijing with a focus on serving China’s growing wine cognoscenti. Pudao’s focus is all about tastings and a “try before you buy” approach to the new Chinese wine consumer. In 2015 the group was acquired by Woolworths of Australia, and Marcus was a key business partner during the acquisition process.
The Acquisition led to establishing a further business: Langton’s East Asia in Hong Kong. Marcus represented the Langton’s brand in the region and acted as Buyer and Head of Wine and Content during the start-up phase of the business. Marcus has been working as a consultant on numerous projects for wineries large and small in the Chinese market over the past year. He is also an experienced wine taster and has previously judged at the Decanter Asia Wine Awards and many other regional competitions. He is a speaker on the Chinese wine market and has presented at Vinexpo and numerous other conferences in the region.
Marcus has recently taken on the role of Asia Market Manager for Wines of South Africa. Based in Shanghai, Marcus will be responsible for running all marketing activities throughout mainland China, Hong Kong and Japan.
