Full name: Dario Ceccarelli
Role: CEO, Belgibeer
DOB: 13 May 1982
Birthplace: Belgium
Twitter Handle: @belgibeerEN @Cecarelo
Website: www.belgibeer.com
Fun Fact: “The King of Belgium has heard about us and likes what we’re doing!”
So, let’s start at the beginning. You’re Brussels born, and come from an Italian family but you’ve lived all over the world – South America, Asia etc. As I understand it you have a background in Mechanical Engineering and project management, so what’s the connection to beer?
I’m a trained engineer from Edinburgh University and while working in the piping industry I got often called into Belgian breweries for work. It was there that I felt in love with the smell of the boiling malts and hops. Dropped my job as an engineer and become an “engibeer”. Life was simply too short to miss out on those outstanding products, so I launched Belgibeer.com to better represent craft Belgian beers on the market.
Today we are the leading reference on the market and yet we still have a long road to walk to consolidate our position.
Speaking of beer …. last time I checked there’s hundreds of breweries and 1000+ beers in Belgium. How do you find new breweries and how the heck do you keep up with it all?! I read that you visit each brewery, do you taste each beer too? I’m going to assume that you’re pretty passionate about it all and that you must spend a LOT of time on the road.
Belgibeer has a very simple, yet precise concept: the monthly discovery of a Belgian craft brewer. Every month we close a deal with a brewery, bring their beers to our warehouse, box them with our magazine and beer mats then ship it right to our clients.
Belgibeer is not about discovering 1000+ beers. It’s about discovering the great Belgian beer heritage which survived through the centuries. It’s about educating people to drink less, but better, just like Belgians do.
On that note, where do you see the ‘beer scene’ in Belgium and the world headed in the near future? Any trends or interesting things we should be looking out for? Any unusual Belgian beers that your typical beer fan from the UK may not have tried? Trappist ales are getting popular here but that’s only really scratching the surface isn’t it?
The craft beer revolution has been a reality for years now pretty much anywhere in the world. Craft American and British beers are very good especially in the way hops are used. Belgians are reluctant to follow the same trend, as their beers have traditionally been an excellent balance between yeast, malts, hops and the water used. American and British beers tend to shadow other ingredients to favour hops.
Belgians maintain a very good “traditional” balance, but are slowly allowing more hops in their brew process. In other words, Belgians will never brew IPAs. However their beers will be hoppy enough for beer lovers to taste other ingredients.
British drinkers wishing to try the craft brewing revolution in Belgium may want to try the following ‘honourable mentions’/breweries: De Ranke, Millevertus, De Plukker, Sainte-Helene and De Dochter Van De Korenaar.
What is it that sets your many and exciting beers apart from the more popular/populous ‘mass market’ alternatives? Why should people try them?
That’s a good question. We do not discredit anyone. We just allow the little guys a chance to shine in an otherwise very controlled environment. Some of the larger breweries literally own the distribution market and usually beer drinkers are unaware of those practices and all they get to drink is routinely the same staff.
Belgibeer bypass the traditional circuit and allows people to be delivered the history of a Belgian brewer and discover it home with friends and family. We also noticed that many women were offering it as a gift to their lovers.
I read that you actually brew from time to time at one of your suppliers. Please tell us more! Created anything delicious yet?
That’s true! I just love working out! Brewing is a lot like ‘Breaking Bad’: lots of cleaning (equipment must be spotless before every process) and waiting.
In September last year I drove all the way to De Plukker hop farm, where we collected fresh hops straight from the fields and launched a double brew with fresh hops! Six weeks later, we had an awesome product. We sold it on Belgibeer.com and it sold out in 48 hours.
What’s a ‘day in your life’ like? Could you give us an insight into Dario’s life?
I wake up really early. Work out at the nearby gym almost every morning, then hit the office where I make sure the team and myself are following pre-established goals. This allows to work efficiently and stress-free. The evening I enjoy visiting a friend and do non-work related activities. I’m also leading a hiking group on meetup.com and occasionally we go hiking from one brewery to another.
What’s your greatest/most memorable professional moment been, so far?
I have so many. I should probably thank my outstanding team if we are where we are today. They are very loyal and committed even in all those hard moments we had in the past. And that’s probably the reason why Belgibeer did so well with competitors who have gone extinct.
Where do you get your ideas?
This may seem like a paradox, but I do get my best ideas while I’m NOT working.
What’s your philosophy, summed up in a sentence?
To help bring a craft beer revolution to the market.
What’s the biggest challenge you’ve had, how did you overcome it, and what did you learn from it?
Convincing investors to support us. But it wasn’t a real challenge after all. Once you can prove you have great traction, a great team and the right assets to potentially grow as a company, things become a little easier. The challenge was to grow to this level on your own, when nobody trusted really trusted our project. But if you make it to take “threshold” point then it’s either die or live.
And if you live it can go very far…
Who’s the person who’s most inspired you in your work – food industry or otherwise? Is there anyone that you draw inspiration or strength from? Do you have any specific culinary influences?
I have all my influencers right where I started, my home. There’s a picture of them all hanging from the walls of my living room. And they are: Nelson Mandela, Donald Trump (before going crazy), Tony Hsieh, and Sylvester Stallone. I get my mentoring from reading many business books. I just love reading and learning how others have done it.
From all this I learned that sometimes people quit because they can sense failure. Well guess what? It’s all been done before. When you know your concept works but you are struggling and have to make a decision on whether to continue or quit, many successful businesspeople have been through exactly the same stage. The answer is to continue. Especially if your clients and you team loves you.
What advice would you give to aspiring food and drink entrepreneurs who’d want the kind of results that you’ve had?
London advice: make sure you sell your product before you fully develop or start your business. If you launched a service or product and you find out at a later stage that there is no market for it, you will have wasted your time and money.
If you weren’t doing what you do now, what would you be doing instead?
Professional worldwide vagabond. Love hiking and camping out in the wild so my plan B has always been to do something strictly related with mother nature.
If you could get anyone to try your beers (fictional or real, living or dead) who would you pick and which of the beers would you like them to try? Assume that they go on to be your brand ambassador…
George Clooney so we can finally hear him say “what else?” once more.
What’s your ultimate aim and goal for Belgibeer? If you could achieve anything with it, what would you pick? Money and reality are no obstacle, so shoot for the moon…
Our vision is to become the leading reference for Belgian beers. Our goal is to be professional enough to have other professionals recognise us as the “Michelin” star advisors for beer. Perhaps one day will gain such popularity among consumers that our logo will be allowed exclusively onto really great beers as a sign of distinction.
Where next for you and the business?
Hiring country managers to better represent us in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Benelux with a particular focus on the UK.
Secondly the creation of a new web site that allows us to better retain our clients via a gamification algorithm. In simple terms: the more users interact with our web platform, the more points are earned and this can be exchanged with beer.
And we always ask three ridiculous questions…
You have acquired a pet T-Rex and are morally obliged to look after it. It is 13 ft tall at the hips, eats half a ton of raw meat a day, and likes taking long walks. What would you call it and what would you do to keep it entertained and housed?
I would call it ‘the T-Beer’, and would probably take it to the next Jurassic Park.
If you were forced to fend off an alien invasion and singlehandedly save mankind using only the tools available at Belgibeer, how would you do it?
Offer the Aliens a craft Belgian beer and talk them out of any hostile plans they may have against us.
If you had to be transformed into any kind of household appliance, but retained your memories, ability to speak and personality, what would you pick?
A fridge. Love to keep my beers chill!