[LUM#1] Flavor Hunter
A range of craft beers featuring flavors from around the world: that’s the challenge taken on by a former student of the Montpellier Institute of Business and Management…
How do you combine the desire to be an entrepreneur with a love of hops? For Arnaud Buffet, the answer is simple: by launching his own beer brand. With a background that includes studying at ISEM, he had everything he needed to put together a business plan. His love of a challenge did the rest.“I’ve always been a beer lover. At first, I enjoyed brewing at home, then I decided to take it to the next level.”That marked the birth of“The Eye’s Hunters,” a line of French craft beers made with ingredients sourced from all over the world.
A beer refermented with warana
The first in the line, Timbo was launched in the summer of 2012. What sets it apart is that it’s a beer made with Amazonian warana, the protected designation of origin given to guarana.“It’s not flavored with warana, but actually refermented with it,” the young man insists. And not just any warana. “The intensive cultivation of this berry is an ecological disaster; industrialists are literally destroying the Amazon rainforest,” protests Arnaud Buffet. “Just as serious: they want to displace the local Satéré-Mawé tribe to exploit the warana.” So Arnaud, deeply committed to environmental stewardship, decided to do things differently. To avoid contributing to this devastation, he sources his ingredients from responsible suppliers, working directly with the local tribal chief.“Proof that you can use rare ingredients while doing it right,” argues Arnaud Buffet.
A successful ethical and eco-friendly initiative: today, Timbo can be found in over 200 retail locations across the South of France, including restaurants, wine bars, beer cellars, and grocery stores.“Nearly 100,000 bottles were sold in 2014,” says the young entrepreneur, who is delighted to have earned the recognition and trust of his partners.
Organic and fair-trade ingredients
And this is just the beginning: Arnaud Buffet and his partners are constantly traveling the world in search of organic, fair-trade ingredients to create new flavors. Their goal: to create one beer per continent. Mission accomplished for Africa and Asia: the“The Eye’s Hunter”family expanded in 2015 with the launch of Djembé, a wheat beer with hibiscus from Senegal, and Kâma, an amber beer with ginger from Sri Lanka. Next step for the young globetrotting entrepreneur:“uncovering the ingredients needed to craft the brews representing Europe and Oceania.” All to complete his global journey of flavors.
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