The call from Sato Takeshi came in early June, after even the last-harvested Sweetheart variety had all been picked and bonuses had been paid to the laborers who had worked so hard. Chloe was therefore not at Harris Farm, but at the pear farm in Lodi, reviewing the harvest schedule when she picked up her phone. Sato’s voice was heavier than usual.
“Ms. Chloe, there’s something I need to tell you. It’s not good news.”
“What? What happened?”
“Ms. Chloe, I have something to report. Three days ago, our Tokyo sales team received a strange tip. Cherries bearing Queenswood Growers packaging were found at two small and midsized supermarkets in Shibuya Ward, and there were consumer complaints that they tasted completely different.”
Chloe’s face stiffened, and she set down the pen she had been holding.
“So someone is stealing our brand.”
“Yes. Yesterday morning, I personally collected samples. The packaging had copied the Queenswood Growers design almost exactly. But what was inside wasn’t Royal Tioga. They were ordinary Bing cherries. The sugar content was low, and the size was different too.”
“And?”
“Yesterday afternoon, I requested that both supermarkets immediately stop accepting deliveries. The supermarkets were cooperative as well. They were flustered, saying they hadn’t known what they were receiving. And this morning, I also filed an official report regarding the counterfeit packaging with the Tokyo Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Consumer Safety Technology Center. I’ve confirmed that the officer in charge will come out to investigate on-site.”
Somewhat relieved that Sato had already finished the initial response locally, Chloe asked,
“Have you identified the distribution route?”
“Not yet. When we checked the supplier through the supermarkets, it turned out to be a small and midsized produce wholesaler in Ota Ward, Tokyo. I’m planning to visit them in person this afternoon. If we find out where that wholesaler got them from, we should be able to trace the source of the counterfeit packaging.”
“Thank you for your hard work, General Manager Sato.”
“Not at all. The reason I contacted you, Ms. Chloe, is because of what comes next. I’ll continue blocking the local distribution issue, but I think we need an official position from the brand. If word gets out about the counterfeiting, consumers may lose trust in Queenswood Growers cherries themselves. What do you intend to do?”
“Mm... I see. All right for now. I’ll call you back.”
After hanging up, Chloe thought for a moment, then called Brian.
“General Manager Sato is handling things well on-site.”
“Yeah, that’s a relief. We should probably issue an official statement, but how should we do it?”
“Mm... But I don’t think a simple apology-level statement will be enough. I think we should make a preemptive announcement. If we hide the fact that we were counterfeited, it’ll blow up even bigger later. Wouldn’t it be much better to announce it first now?”
“Won’t consumers get anxious if we tell them fakes are circulating?”
“I think it could be the opposite. It proves the brand has enough value to be counterfeited, and it shows that we respond immediately. If we stay silent, we look incompetent, but if we announce it preemptively, I think it builds trust. And if we announce an anti-counterfeiting system along with it, it’ll be even stronger.”
“An anti-counterfeiting system?”
“If we attach a unique number to each package with a laser-cut sticker and a unique serial number, consumers can verify authenticity themselves. Japanese consumers are sensitive to that kind of thing. It could actually become an opportunity to raise trust.”
Convinced by her boyfriend’s advice, Chloe contacted Sato again.
“General Manager Sato, we’re going to issue an official statement. Under the Queenswood Growers name. The content will be that we are aware of the counterfeiting incident and have immediately reported it, and that, to prevent future counterfeiting, we are introducing laser-cut stickers and serial numbers so consumers can verify genuine Queenswood Growers cherries. You can distribute it to the Japanese press, right?”
“That’s a good idea. Once I check the Ota Ward wholesaler this afternoon, we may be able to announce the source of the counterfeits as well. If we include more specific information, the article will have much more impact.”
“Please do.”
That afternoon, Sato called again.
“I’ve checked the Ota Ward wholesaler. They received them from an exporter in Zhejiang Province, China.
They were Bing cherries packed in Queenswood Growers packaging, and the packaging itself had also been printed in Zhejiang Province. Perhaps because it was still in the early stages, the scale wasn’t very large.”
“That’s a relief. We stopped it before it got bigger.”
“Yes. The wholesaler also said they had been deceived and would cooperate. They handed over the Zhejiang company’s information. I’ll pass it along to the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Consumer Safety Technology Center as additional material.”
That evening, Queenswood Growers’ official statement was released.
The content was that Queenswood Growers had become aware that counterfeit products misusing its brand were being distributed at some supermarkets in Tokyo and had immediately reported the matter to Japanese authorities; that it had cooperated with local partner companies to block the distribution route; and that it would immediately introduce an anti-counterfeiting system consisting of laser-cut stickers and unique serial numbers so consumers could verify genuine Queenswood Growers cherries.
Major Japanese media outlets began picking up the statement. The angle of the articles was far better than Chloe had expected. Rather than focusing on a brand that had been victimized by counterfeiting, articles poured out framing Queenswood Growers as an American premium cherry brand that had responded swiftly and transparently.
Two days after the statement went out, Sato contacted her.
“Ms. Chloe, something unexpected has happened.”
“What is it?”
“The buyer from the food hall at Isetan Shinjuku has contacted us. They want to carry Queenswood Growers cherries starting next season!”
At Sato’s excited words, Chloe furrowed her brow. She understood that something good had happened, but she couldn’t quite grasp just how good it was.
“Uh... that’s a good thing, right?”
“Haha, of course it is! The food hall on the first basement floor of Isetan Shinjuku is where the consumers said to be the most demanding in Japan gather.
If Matsuya is the entrance to the premium cherry market, Isetan is close to its summit. Among buyers handling imported premium fruit, getting into Isetan Shinjuku is almost treated like a quality guarantee mark!”
Only then did a smile appear at the corners of Chloe’s mouth.
“Oh, really? Did they say it was because of how we responded this time?”
“That’s right. The buyer said that when a counterfeiting incident breaks out, the way a brand moves reveals its true level. They said they were impressed that Queenswood Growers didn’t remain silent but stepped forward first.”
“Thank you for your hard work, General Manager Sato. Please keep handling things well.”
After hanging up, Chloe immediately called Brian. She wanted to tell him the good news.
The thought that came to me after receiving Chloe’s excited call was, “How could the timing be this coincidental?”
Only a few hours earlier, I had received a call from Hong Kong wine collector David Cheung. And it, too, had been about suspected counterfeiting...
“Brian, I think there’s a problem with the Christie’s auction. A controversy has broken out over the authenticity of Latour old vintages.”
“What? What are the specifics?”
“American wine appraiser Don Cornwell posted on his blog. He wrote that, in the course of the FBI tracing the distribution routes of Rudy Kurniawan’s counterfeit wines, suspicions have been raised that some Latour old vintages were included. Cornwell even made specific points that the cork condition and label printing methods of two Latour vintage bottles in this Christie’s auction look suspicious.”
“How are the collectors reacting?”
“Of course, it’s chaos. There’s even talk of boycotting the auction.”
Just as Chloe had faced a brand-counterfeiting situation, something similar had happened to me as well.
It had been a very long time ago, and at the time I hadn’t paid that much attention, so I hadn’t thought of it right away, but Rudy Kurniawan was an extremely famous person in this industry.
Originally from Indonesia, from 2003 to 2012 he counterfeited the world’s top Burgundy and Bordeaux wines and pocketed tens of millions of dollars. He was such a trusted figure in the wine world that his nickname had been Dr. Conti. Then it came out that he had been printing labels at home, swapping corks, filling old bottles with cheap wine, and selling them in a fraud scheme, until the FBI caught him and exposed the truth.
With things turning out this way, Chairman Pinault and Stan Kroenke’s side must have been extremely flustered. There was no way they could have predicted a situation like this. Given that, not rushing the auction had also been the right choice.
After hanging up and sitting there blankly, Warren came over.
“What’s going on?”
“Ah... Chloe called. She says the Queenswood Growers cooperative counterfeiting issue was resolved well.”
“Hoho, that’s good. Fakes are running rampant here and there, I swear... What does Sotheby’s say? Isn’t this a situation that works in our favor?”
Warren already knew that the controversy over the authenticity of Latour vintages had erupted at the Christie’s auction.
“I’m not sure. Will it? If collectors start distrusting wine auctions as a whole right now, I think the Sotheby’s auction could be affected too. Chairman Pinault will bring in Christie’s appraisal team and announce that there’s no problem, but with the Rudy investigation still underway, I’m not sure how well that will work.”
“Then what are you going to do?”
“I think we need to move preemptively.”
After roughly explaining my plan to Warren, I immediately called Oliver Barron, the person in charge of Sotheby’s wine auctions.
“Oliver, let’s release Éther’s appraisal report before the auction. We’ll transparently disclose the records of the entire process, from grape harvest to bottling.”
Perhaps because he was startled, Oliver’s hesitant voice came through.
“That’s... a method no winery has ever used before.”
“That’s exactly why we’re doing it. With collectors shaken by the Rudy case right now, if we perfectly prove Éther’s authenticity, the credibility of Sotheby’s auction will become overwhelmingly higher than Christie’s.”
Of course, releasing records does not mean revealing every detail related to winemaking. It is merely disclosing the record of which vineyard the grapes came from, through which winery’s tanks they passed, and where they were bottled. Since it is a disclosure of the movement process of the raw materials, it is honestly nothing special. It’s just that no winery has ever disclosed such a thing until now.
“...That is a brilliant idea. Understood. We’ll do that.”
After that, I conveyed the same idea to Corinne, and unexpectedly, she readily agreed. It seemed she had no intention of missing this moment, with Latour, her long-time competitor, in trouble.
It was a day later that Pinault immediately brought in Christie’s appraisal team and issued an official announcement. The content was that there was absolutely no problem with the Latour vintages. But it was already too late.
Brian and Corinne’s transparency declaration had hit the media first. The disclosure of records for the entire process of Éther, from harvest to bottling, and the disclosure of Château Margaux’s 1996 vintage cellar storage history. This transparency declaration, made simultaneously by the two wineries, was read as an entirely different message by collectors shaken by the Rudy case.
A winery suspected of counterfeiting, and wineries that first disclosed everything. Which side to trust needed no explanation.
That afternoon, an emergency meeting was held at the Pinault Group headquarters. A working-level manager reported to Chairman Pinault with a stiff expression.
“Chairman, the movement to boycott this Christie’s auction is growing within the Hong Kong collector community. Don Cornwell’s blog post has started being cited by Wine Spectator and Decanter, and our announcement of the appraisal results is actually backfiring.”
“Backfiring?”
“With Redwood and Margaux having disclosed the entire process first, our announcement that there is no problem is instead making people more suspicious. They’re asking why we aren’t disclosing ours.”
Pinault, his brow deeply furrowed, tapped the table with his finger. It was a habit of his. This time, however, the rhythm was uneven.
“The Latour winemaking team has also submitted the opinion that we should consider postponing the auction.”
If they postponed, they would hand the whole board completely over to Sotheby’s, and if they pushed ahead, they would have to endure the humiliation of low winning bids.
At that moment, another working-level employee hurried in holding a document and reported.
“Chairman, we’ve received word from Mr. Kroenke. He says he will independently disclose Screaming Eagle’s production records.”
Startled, Pinault raised his head.
“He says he’ll do it independently?”
“He says he’ll release only Screaming Eagle’s records first, regardless of Latour. He says that delaying any further will only increase suspicion.”
“Damn it...!”
Stan’s logic was not wrong. Screaming Eagle was a winery established in 1992. Its production history was relatively simple, and its storage records were neatly organized. It was structured so that there was nothing to lose by disclosing them.
But Latour was different.
Latour’s history went back to the seventeenth century. It had cellar records accumulated over hundreds of years, and mixed within them were Latour’s unique blending ratios, aging methods, and harvest data by vineyard parcel. The moment they pulled out the records to prove provenance, Latour’s entire winemaking secrets would be dragged out with them.
On top of that, the internal resistance within Latour could not be ignored. The head of the winemaking team had submitted his opinion directly to Pinault just yesterday morning. The gist was one thing: Latour did not need to explain itself. Latour’s 150 years of history guaranteed its authenticity.
It was a matter of pride.
The argument was that a Bordeaux First Growth responding to someone’s suspicions by pulling out cellar records was itself an act that lowered Latour’s dignity. Neither Lafite, nor Mouton, nor Haut-Brion had ever moved that way.
But reality was cold.
What Hong Kong collectors wanted to see now was not Latour’s pride, but proof that what was inside the Latour wine bottles was genuine. And the structure was such that whichever side presented that proof first would be the one smiling at the Sotheby’s auction house.
“Damn it...”
François Pinault, chairman of a vast empire, bit his lip as he felt troubled for the first time in a very long while.