5ounces: flash sale eCommerce for gourmet food and wine lovers

There’s a new gourmet food and wine eCommerce site on the block, and it’s called 5ounces — the name refers to the standard, one-fifth measurement of a bottle of wine.

Launched in August of this year, 5ounces is inspired by the flash sale model of Gilt Taste and the artisanal wine offerings of Lot 18. Founder Trevor Gosling says that 5ounces aims to provide South African consumers with gourmet produce and premium wines at significantly reduced prices. A quick scan over the site reveals price reductions on Platter four and five star wine half-cases of close to 50%.

A wine lover himself, founder Trevor Gosling feels confident 5ounces is filling a gap in the market. “I’m very excited about all of the products we offer. I’m 5ounces’s best customer. Our current deals include flagship wines from Solms-Delta, Neil Ellis, Remhoogte, and Chabivin, together with award-winning international wines from France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. On the gourmet side, the likes of NOMU, Mitchells Craft Beer and Valrhona Chocolate really appeal to me.”

5ounces also serves as a platform for gourmet food companies and wineries to market their products to a database of discerning members.

“5ounces sources the products directly from the producers. Our business development team negotiates deals with the producers and we effectively act as a marketing platform for them. The deals run from four days to a week. Our database is emailed two to three times per week when new deals come on. Once each deal closes, we notify the suppliers of the number of products sold and these are shipped directly to the customer,” says Gosling.

Gosling tells us that 5ounces is privately funded but that it is looking currently in discussions with VCs and other bigger eCommerce players. He also says that 5ounces is looking to increase its product range through a catalogue store and subscriptions in the coming months.