From EHL to entrepreneurship: Transforming China's cocktail scene

Since opening their first bar in 2016, they have launched several new venues across Guangzhou and Shenzhen. They also run one of China’s top Food & Beverage (F&B) consultancy firms and have received major accolades, with their bar named Mainland China's best in both 2023 and 2024.

Reflecting on their achievements, it’s easy to overlook that success is never guaranteed, especially for Andrew and Bastien, whose distinct backgrounds have played a crucial role in their shared entrepreneurial journey.

Worlds apart

For Bastien, the hospitality business literally ran in his blood. I’ve always been passionate about the world of spirits and hospitality, said Bastien.

I remember watching my grandfather make vermouth and spirits, and my father running his restaurant as an entrepreneur; those are some of my earliest memories.

Inspired by their success, he enrolled at EHL to pursue his ambition, even dedicating weekends and semester breaks to working at cocktail bars in Lausanne.

Meanwhile, half a world away in Hong Kong, Andrew was a late bloomer. He credits EHL as having given him his first real taste of an industry that would ultimately become his career. My first exposure to the industry came pretty late, and it was only when I was at EHL that I really gained an interest in Food & Beverage, recalls Andrew.

Even then, his ambition to become an F&B entrepreneur hadn’t yet emerged.

Actually, I don't think I ever wanted to start my own business. When I started my career working in hotels, it was always sort of my dream to become a hotel General Manager, doing that very traditional route.

Coming from distinctly different backgrounds, Bastien and Andrew initially met during their time at EHL but only socially. So how did this unlikely duo come together to become award-winning entrepreneurs?

Reunited in Guangzhou

After graduation, Bastien’s career took him to Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia as an F&B Marketing Manager for Shangri-La. During this busy, early phase of his career, Bastien admits, I completely lost contact with Andrew and many of my fellow schoolmates. That is until 2014, when Bastien relocated within Shangri-La to take on a speciality restaurant management role in Guangzhou.

Coincidentally, Andrew had also relocated to Guangzhou after graduation, working with Hyatt Hotels where he worked his way up to the role of Assistant Director of F&B overseeing budgeting, business plans, and wine programmes. A move which was a defining moment for Andrew, as he quickly realised that Guangzhou offered more intriguing opportunities than his hometown of Hong Kong.

For both Bastien and Andrew, being in Guangzhou proved to be a classic case of the right place, right time. Upon reconnecting, the two former schoolmates quickly saw an opportunity. As Bastien puts it: After a year in the city we saw the lack of good [F&B] venues for such a large population. We thought there was a niche market to target.

Looking back now, Andrew admits when we started, there wasn't really a plan. I was working in Guangzhou and felt like it's a good city to start something in. The risk is a lot lower compared to somewhere like Hong Kong. It’s a massive city where people appreciate good F&B.

By that time in their careers, they already had the ideal resumes to create a luxury concept. Not to mention, they both also had extensive operational experience behind the bar, in the kitchen, and as sommeliers.

In fact for Andrew, his foundation for Hope & Sesame was formed during his EHL internship way back in 2006, at Amber in The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong.

Details mattered. Where is the butter from? Why use this particular cutlery, or flatware? You had to understand all of it, which for me, really set a foundation for everything that followed.

Meanwhile, Bastien’s previous role at Shangri-La had given him the opportunity to create luxury F&B concepts within a large hotel group, giving him the critical, hands-on experience needed to launch a world-class bar like Hope & Sesame.

Making Guangzhou a home

As Bastien remembers, relocating to Guangzhou was not the preferred choice for many expats back then. He further explains how living in a country with a different language and culture adds layers of complexity. This is one of the many reasons he values Andrew as a co-founder. Any foreigner alone would struggle to start a business here due to the complex administrative processes and the fact that all documents are in Chinese.

Andrew, who is from Hong Kong, also admits the challenges in running the business. When we first started in Guangzhou, we were in what was basically a novel, new business sector (ie. cocktail bars) so not everything was straightforward, in black and white.

Having now lived in Guangzhou for the last decade, Bastien admits that there are advantages. These include being in a safe environment, and being able to harness the power of social media which is a reliable tool to drive customers to their bar. I learned a lot on how to do business and what is possible in the last few years as we grew our company, he said.

Building on all that knowledge, Andrew and Bastien have since gone on to found several more concept-driven bars, including Charlie’s (in 2019), and the baijiu-centric Bar SanYou (in 2020). They’ve also launched Spirits Architects, now one of Asia’s most sought-after bar consultancy firms.

Reflecting on the impact of their dynamic ventures on China's bar culture over the past 8 years, Bastien recalled:

For instance, two years ago when we opened a cocktail bar for Ralph Lauren in Chengdu, that same year saw the launch of over 2,000 new bars in the city alone!

While Andrew and Bastien can’t completely take credit for the phenomenon, they’ve certainly led the way.

Achieving the perfect balance

Much like crafting the perfect cocktail, maintaining balance is essential for ensuring longevity and success as an entrepreneur. As Andrew and Bastien's ventures have flourished, so too has their ability to maintain a harmonious work-life balance as family men. [Being successful] allows me to spend a lot more time with my child without having to compromise my dedication to both business and family, asserts Andrew.

One of the keys to achieving that is keeping things close to home, geographically. We’re not thinking about opening all over China, because China’s huge. Different regions are like different countries, said Andrew. We opened a bar in Shenzhen, and it’s 1.5 hours by car from Guangzhou. We try to make sure the management distance isn't too far. Otherwise, you lose a lot of day-to-day control.

Andrew and Bastien’s growth strategy also mirrors that same ethos of keeping things close to home. From the start, they’ve avoided external investment, relying mainly on their own savings and a few close family and friends for seed funding. As Andrew explains, once you get investors in, things become very complicated. Right now, we fully own and operate all of our venues, and I think we want to keep it that way.

Today, this dynamic duo has full control over how they execute their business vision, selectively taking on interesting guest shifts overseas and road-testing new concepts in new markets.

So after eight years of operating successful ventures, what’s the best thing about running Hope & Sesame?

For Andrew, it’s about travelling the world for guest shifts. I think I've pretty much been everywhere in the world. I'm just meeting incredible people and I'm not stuck behind the desk. Building on that, Bastien says it’s a sort of super power of choosing what to do, not having to ask anyone if we can do it.

About EHL Group

EHL Group is the global reference in education, innovation and consulting for the hospitality and service sector.
With expertise dating back to 1893, EHL Group now offers a wide range of leading educational programs from apprenticeships to master's degrees, as well as professional and executive education, on three campuses in Switzerland and Singapore. EHL Group also offers consulting and certification services to companies and learning centers around the world. True to its values and committed to building a sustainable world, EHL Group's purpose is to provide education, services and working environments that are people-centered and open to the world. www.ehlgroup.com

EHL Hospitality Business School
Communications Department
+41 21 785 1354
EHL

View source