A bottle of Glenfiddich whisky sits on a cabinet in Palwinder Singh’s Napier office with his name on it. Literally.
The custom label reads “Cheers Palwinder” and is one of the gifts sent to him over the years from suppliers.
Singh will never taste it, though. He doesn’t drink. Never has.
Despite being a teetotaller, he and his older brother, Avtar Singh, co-founded what is now the Big Barrel liquor franchise 20 years ago.
The business has grown to become a 48-store liquor empire across New Zealand. Its origins date back to a holiday in Hawke’s Bay.
Palwinder and Avtar, who grew up in India and have lived in New Zealand for decades, travelled from South Auckland to Hawke’s Bay at Easter 2003.
By chance, they popped into Marewa shopping centre in Napier.
“We parked the car opposite, and we saw there was an empty shop. We looked around and thought ‘what is missing from this shopping centre?’
“It was quite busy - I think it was a Sunday - and the only thing missing was liquor.”
They decided to call the real estate agent and, within a couple of months, the Singh brothers took the plunge and signed a lease, got a liquor licence, and opened their first alcohol store in May 2003 - using what funds they could muster.
By the end of the year, much of the family had relocated to Hawke’s Bay.
“That is how it started. We did not come from a liquor background, and it was a huge learning curve,” said Palwinder, who had an IT background.
That original store is still operating albeit a bit worse for wear after being ram-raided twice this year.
As the business has expanded, Big Barrel has stayed closely connected to the Singh family.
All stores are owned and operated by either relatives or trusted friends, such as long-term employees, and Palwinder praised the work of his brother-in-law Balwinder Sandhu and his brothers and cousins.
“What we have managed to do is purely off the back of the work of the brothers and our family and friends.
“We all worked collectively to take Big Barrel to where it is today.”
A non-drinker selling drinks
Alcohol harm is a serious issue in New Zealand.
Last year, there were 111 road deaths with drink-driving being a factor, across the country.
Police have previously estimated as much as a third of all offences are committed by an offender who has been drinking.
Palwinder said one of their principles, to help prevent alcohol harm, was not to open a new store in an area “saturated” with alcohol stores.
“If we see there are plenty of stores around, we don’t even look into those markets,” he said.
“All our growth over the past five years has come out of [buying] existing stores.”
He believes New Zealand had good education and initiatives to help reduce alcohol harm, which was different to what he had witnessed growing up in India.
“When I came to this country, I saw that alcohol is part of the country’s culture. They know how to enjoy a drink rather than getting wasted.
“To me, I think, because of that you kind of say ‘hang on, if I don’t sell there are plenty of others who are selling anyway’.
“If I sell responsibly, working collectively with the agencies, with a motive of how can we work together to reduce the harm, I don’t think I am doing anything wrong.”
He said as part of their 20th anniversary they were in the process of starting a Mates Foundation, to support charities and emergency services.
Palwinder also said binge culture had changed due to a few factors including people becoming more health conscious.
“The consumption of alcohol overall, over the last 10 years, is in decline.”
The Molotov cocktail
The expansion of Big Barrel was forced - in part - by vandalism at the Marewa store.
It was the night of St Patrick’s Day, around 2006, when someone smashed a window before throwing in a Molotov cocktail.
“They broke a window and threw a bottle full of petrol - or something - inside with a flame,” Palwinder said.
It caused extensive damage and shut down their store for six weeks.
“That was the turning point in our family business. We thought ‘if we are in, we need to expand’ because for six or eight weeks we were shut and we had no cash flow and were struggling.”
They had opened their second store by then, in Hastings, which helped a lot, and they decided to expand further.
By 2008, they had opened five stores including their first outside Hawke’s Bay, in Palmerston North.
It was in 2010, when Palwinder came up with the name Big Barrel, and the business has grown rapidly since.
Crime worst it’s been
The Marewa store was recently ram-raided twice in the space of three weeks, followed by a break-in at the nearby Carlyle Street store.
After Cyclone Gabrielle, the Taradale and Marewa stores were also broken into while the electricity was down.
Palwinder said they have made about 30 insurance claims in the last 12 months for weather or crime-related incidents.
That is a big leap on previous years.
“Our insurance went up 65 per cent this year,” he said.
“So technically all the claims we made last year, we are paying them back.”
Big Barrel opened its first store in Auckland last year and the business is continuing to grow.
The stores are characterised by being bright and inviting and “female friendly” which has been another part of their success.
Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.
Firefighters responded shortly before 9am on Friday.