Aug 22: Della Leaders Club (DLC) that was launched globally on 7 August 2021, Virtually launched the 15 Chapters of Wines, Spirits and Cigars in the first of 8 phases, during which over 100 new honourary members from across the globe were officially introduced, 4 of them from Delhi being by Cav. Subhash Arora who is the Chairman of the Delhi Chapter and reports
After he was introduced to the global audience as the Chairperson of the Delhi Wine, Spirits and Cigar Chapter of the Della Leaders Club (DLC) by Anish Trivedi, the Master of Ceremony of the virtual Zoom meeting and the founder Jimmy Mistry, Subhash Arora shared his thoughts on the DLC as a vibrant organisation with around 2000 members already on board from across the globe, and introduced 4 members of the Delhi Chapter:
Arun Kumar - This seasoned wine and spirits professional also has the distinction of being a Keeper of the Quaich. He is the co-Founder Director of Aspri Spirits, which has now become the go-to Company for star hotels, clubs, restaurants and Duty Free Shops pan India.
Anand Virmani - Credited to set up 3 coffee, wine and cocktail bars in Delhi and moonlighting as a whiskey ambassador, this co- Founder and CEO of Nao Spirits & Beverages, enjoys the sole distinction of being India’s first craft gin distiller.
Shantanu Upadhaya - Co-founder and CEO of this interestingly-named craft beer brand Kati Patang evokes unfettered freedom. The beer is brewed with the happiest water on the planet, originating from Bhutan.
Ankur Chawla – A renowned Sommelier and the Beverage Director at the Taj and J W Marriott Hotels, Ankur was chosen the ‘Best Sommelier at the delWine Excellence Awards 2016’. He is now an entrepreneur and a Speaker on platforms like TEDx, Josh Talks and delWine Excellence Awards etc. He also authored 14 Hours- a bestseller book, based on the fateful night at The Taj Hotel in 2008, dubbed as 26/11.
The Chapter heads of 15 cities from 7 countries, including New York. London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad also introduced their members. One of the objectives of the evening was to create a bond within the committee members for the future meetings of each Chapter.
Some of the other members of the WSC (Wine, Spirits and Cigars) Club from India seen in the Presentation were Rojita Tiwari, Jackie Matai, Sumedh Singh Mandla, Abhay Kewadkar and Chinmaya Arjun Raja.
With Francois Chartier, who won the prestigious ‘Best Sommelier of the World’ award (Grand Prix Sopexa Paris in Wines and Spirits of France in 1994) at the helm as the Global Chairman, a lot of exciting times are ahead for this Vertical which is all about creating happiness in the field of business.
There are 15 cities already activated. 15 more are to be added every 6 months. Della Leaders targets 120 cities in 8 phases.
The enigmatic Jimmy Mistry, who is CMD of Della group- a multi million-dollar enterprise, is the brain behind the concept of Della Leaders Club. He is a self-made millionaire, who admits to have dropped out of mechanical engineering course before finishing the diploma, but because of his immense passion and business acumen and sheer hard work, made his millions- mainly in hospitality design and real estate with Della Resort in Lonavala.
For the current project he designed what he calls the world’s 1st business platform for which he is collecting ‘gems’ from different sectors of business. He has divided the complete business spectrum in 15 Verticals with another 15 in the lifestyle segment. WSC is only one of the 26 so-far identified verticals, that boasts of several Masters of Wine, Master Sommeliers and even a Best Sommelier of the World.
‘As we are launching our 1st out of the 13 Lifestyle Committees, our mission at DLC is simple- to bring together the best and be the catalyst to transform people from a Life of Success to a Life of Significance’, said Jimmy.
Each Chapter will have 3 events in the city where it is based with an annual meeting at a central point which he indicated would be at Lonavala. More details will be shared as they unfold. There will also be an event where all the 26 Chapter Heads will congregate, based on their availability.
Global Launch
Della Leaders Club was launched globally earlier this month on 7 August with Dr. Shashi Tharoor as the Chief Guest and Suhel Seth steering the virtual meeting where a select gathering including Arora were invited to introduce the 26 Verticals including Yoga, Happiness and Health and the Wine,
Spirits and Cigars (in the Lifestyle segment) for which Arora had been made the Chairman of the Delhi Chapter, based on his credentials.
As Jimmy had explained, there would be around 2000 men and women in this community with each forum having up to 6 members. The DLC will disrupt the world of forums which have been democratised by it. Each committee will give out knowledge with a focus on at least 2 social impacts at the world stage-54 social causes are already listed to be espoused. Jimmy says with confidence that no one offers the kind of platform DLC offers and is thus the first business platform of its kind.
All these actions would involve an extensive technology back-end operation, the infrastructure for which is already in progress. According to a Report in ET last month, the company has been in the final stage of organising funds to the tune of $7 million, that would make the enterprise value at an impressive $70 million. The platform expects to generate revenues of $380 million in the next 5 years. Jimmy believes in expanding in a systematic manner with a focus on not diluting the quality, thus making it the first unique global business platform.
There are exciting times ahead-for the Global Wine, Spirits and Cigars Chapter and in fact, the Della Leaders Club.
Subhash Arora
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