A success story: from Winelovers to Warsaw

Winelovers X
–  30 June 2025, 15.00–19.00
– Are you representing a winery and looking for new foreign partners? Come and present your wines! Contact our team here.
– Exhibitors so far here.
– Are you a wine professional and you want to taste? You have to register in advance, so please, send an email to here with your name, workplace and postition.

 
Ewa Hangel, the owner of Kociolek i Wino
 
It all started with selling cauldrons – the dishes to cook goulash on open fire –, and now Kociolek i Wino sells around 5–6000 bottles of wine a year, about 200 labels along with quality food products and warm dishes. The person behind is Ewa, an always smiling, hard-working, amazing woman. 
 
Some of the labels so far: Barta Winery (Tokaj), Béres Vineyards, Cseri Winery (Pannonhalma), (Tokaj), Dereszla Winery (Tokaj), Fehérvári Wine Estate (Somló), Maul Winery (Villány) Szeleshát (Szekszárd), Teleki Wines (Csányi) (Villány), Thummerer Winery (Eger), Tornai Winery (Somló), Tóth Ferenc Winery (Eger), Vesztergombi Cellar (Szekszárd), Zsirai Winery (Tokaj, Somló, Villány)
 
Kociolek i Wino
Ul. Kajki 68a, Warsaw, Poland
biuro@kociolkowanie.pl
Tel.: +48 517 599 595
Open every day
More information here
 
The “Cauldron Lady” feeding the neighbourhood

Once upon a time there was a woman happily married, and since her husband was half Hungarian, they decided to sell cauldrons in Poland, just to maintain some relation with the husbands’ father’s home country. The Polish people also like cooking on open fire, but they mostly use a grill, so cauldron was something exciting for them. Ewa must have a natural born marketing talent: she wrote a book of cauldron recipes to boost the sales of the pot. But then the customers started to demand ingredients, spices – just to prepare Hungarian stew and goulash perfectly. Why not?
So, she launched a tiny shop in the outskirts of Warsaw. It did not go well, so Ewa needed her marketing instinct to work again: she started to organize picnics for the neighbouring families. They loved the delicious (and free) food, so the thing became a tradition, more and more people came, they also brought food themselves, so the “community building side effect” was also considerable. And these people did not leave without buying something in the shop. What is more, they wanted more. “I don’t want to wait a month to eat your fabulous goulash, I want to have the opportunity to eat it every day!” – claimed one of the customers. Ewa agreed, of course, so seven years ago a slightly larger shop became available in the same building, this is where she opened the shop and a little covered garden with some tables.
 
What sells the best
 
Kociolek i Wino customers like international varieties, but they are seeking adventures, new things, therefore they love wines made of indigenous grapes. Kékfrankos, Irsai Olivér, Furmint – really big hits.
– So how many bottles do you sell?
– Well, I have no idea. I know that I have 6000 bottles in the store.
– So how many do you sell a day?
– I have never counted… About fifteen. Let’s count.
So, she brought a calculator, multiplied the daily amount by seven (since the shop is open every day), and with 52 (weeks), which is 5460. This little dialogue illustrates where her focus is. The objective is definitely not the financial success, not to earn more, but to serve the clients well, to make all the customers happy and satisfied.
– How about Juhfark?
– I had Tornai and Fehérvári, but they are already sold out! Now I have Zsirai and I will order again from Fehérvári and Tornai in spring.
– And what about Hungarian bubblies?
– Well, Polish people are crazy about Prosecco, and not so much crazy about Hungarian sparklings. Though Tokaj method traditional sells quite well.

Meet Ewa at Winelovers X on 30 June in Budapest!