Aaron (Yalin) Zhou

Planting the seeds for growing a successful business venture.

A fruitful partnership

With his passion, creativity and persistence, commerce graduate Aaron (Yalin) Zhou (DipCommInfTech ’06, BCom ’09) saw his study at Flinders University as an opportunity to grow a new business venture across Australia and China.

Established in 2008, Australia Morish Wines (China) Co Ltd imports bottles of original Australian wine to China. With Aaron as Chairman the company has partnered with some of Australia’s – and indeed the world’s – finest wineries. No doubt, his time spent in South Australia and its culture of winemaking excellence contributed to Aaron’s decision to introduce these wines to people back home.

“Our professional purchasing team has inspected more than 300 wineries,” Aaron said. “For their geographical culture, grape planting and picking, winemaking style and taste, we finally signed seven excellent wineries to be our strategic partners. They are: Lou Miranda, Turkey Flat, Turners Crossing, Gotham, Hanging Rock, Signature, and Morish.”

It was while studying commerce at Flinders that Aaron was inspired to start the business, with his experience at the University planting the seeds for his successful collaboration. “It expanded my horizon and gave me a solid foundation in commerce. Also, I learned to be independent, confident and tolerant. Before graduation, my group did a research project about investment, which taught me the importance of practice and teamwork.”

Morish has gone from strength to strength. “In 2010, after establishing our mainland headquarters in Chengdu, the company set up operations centres in Beijing and Guangzhou, and set up bonded warehouses in Shanghai to be responsible for the business of the whole country,” Aaron said. “Morish is now the biggest supplier of Australian wine in southwest China.” But for all of Aaron’s success, he’s not prepared to stop striving for excellence. “My future goal is to lead Morish to become the biggest exporter of Australian wine in China.”

Aaron’s commerce degree continues to influence his success. “It gave me a better understanding of business running and management, and I still apply the knowledge at work,” he said.