Vom Fass offers gourmands 50 kinds of oil (from olive oil to truffle oil), 40 kinds of vinegar, and more than two dozen wines and spirits sourced from all over Europe. But the best part is that it offers customers samples for them to taste and help them decide which of these distinct and “artisanal” products best suit their palates.

 

Vom Fass, which means “from the cask” in German, gives customers the option to buy anything from as little as 40 ml to as much as a liter.

 

Its Shangri-La Plaza store at the basement of the mall’s new East Wing also offers a selection of special gift bottles in the form of a star, stiletto, horseshoe, motorcycle, football, and male and female torsos.

 

These fancy bottles are meant either as conversation pieces in the kitchen or as gifts to friends and loved ones. The store, which opened late last year, also has gift boxes which could accommodate as many as eight bottles of oils, vinegar and spirits.

 

Vom Fass’ huge selection of products is stored in medium-size jars and casks that come with their own faucets. Knowledgeable sales personnel are on hand to walk customers through and provide them with small plastic spoons should they wish to taste a particular variant.

 

Apart from olive and truffle oils, the store carries oils derived from all sorts of seeds such as pistachio, tomato and argan. On top of its wide selection of balsamic vinegar from Italy, it also offers vinegar sourced from such fruits as pomegranate, apple and fig. Packaged as “fig star,” it pairs well with lechon kawali.

 

The customer is free to mix up the bottles the way he wants to. While women, for instance, are partial to buying gift boxes containing various bottled oils and vinegar, most men prefer to give a selection of Vom Fass’ bottled wines and single-malt whiskies to friends and business associates.

 

Different uses of oil

 

A good number of oils serve a dual purpose. Derived from roasted and pressed seeds of the argan fruit, which grows abundantly in Morocco, argan oil is good for cooking. It is also good for moisturizing the skin and hair.

 

Flaxseed oil is a natural remedy for constipation, while omega 369 oil has been proven to lower bad cholesterol.

 

Vom Fass also has a range of vinegar, such as raspberry and blueberry, that fans sprinkle on their desserts, from ice cream to pudding, to give a slight tangy kick.

 

The bottles, which are exclusively provided by Vom Fass’ mother company in Regensburg, Germany, don’t come free, but customers can bring them again and again to make future purchases. Vom Fass even provides customers free lettering services to label the bottles or for gift-giving.

 

“If you’re going to buy something either for yourself or as a gift, you certainly want to taste it first,” said Andy Sambar, Vom Fass’ head of operations. “Except for the wines, you also don’t want to get stuck with a lot of oils because, unlike wines, they spoil. That’s why we give customers the option to buy in small quantities.”

 

Vom Fass also carries a limited selection of bottled wines from the Old World, which most Filipino wine merchants don’t offer.

 

Apart from the limited range of products competitors carry, they rarely provide customers the chance to taste what they’re buying since most products come in big sealed bottles and containers.

 

“We have an extensive range that you can’t find anywhere else,” said Sambar, a New York-educated Filipino-Canadian.

 

300 stores

 

Sambar, together with his two siblings, decided to become Vom Fass’ exclusive representative in the Philippines after he chanced upon a Vom Fass store in Singapore. There are currently a little over 300 Vom Fass stores, either company-owned or franchise-held, worldwide.

 

“I was intrigued since we’ve never had one like it before in the Philippines,” said Sambar. “Entire families seemed to be enjoying themselves as they sample each product and decide what to buy.”

 

Founded by Johannes Kiderlen, Vom Fass was launched in 1994. It grew from his conviction that there’s a need “for a more personalized approach to selling artisanal products.”

 

From a wine merchant representing some of Europe’s best wineries, Vom Fass grew to what it is today by not compromising on quality while listening to its target market.

 

Kiderlen knew he was doing something right when the company opened its first store in Italy some years back. Italians, one of the most discriminating people on earth when it comes to olive oils, were flocking in droves to Vom Fass to buy the staple. Today, the company has seven stores all over Italy.

 

“Ultimately, it’s more than just about the fun and excitement of sampling,” said Sambar in a press statement. “It also allows customers the luxury of ensuring the quality of their preferred products as opposed to blindly buying them.”

 

Because of the public’s warm response, the Sambars are opening a second Vom Fass store at SM Aura in April.

 

“At Vom Fass, we don’t like you to pay for anything you don’t like,” said Sambar. “A good number of people are motivated to buy, especially our oils, for health reasons. But majority of our customers buy and try out new products because of taste.”