[LUM#1] Flavor Hunter
A range of craft beers with flavors from around the world: this is the challenge taken up by a former student of the Montpellier Institute of Business and Management Sciences...
How can 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 at ISEM, he had everything he needed to put together a business plan. His taste for 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's how "The Eye's Hunters" was born, a range of French craft beers made with ingredients from around the world.
A beer refermented with warana
The first in the range, Timbo was launched in the summer of 2012. Its unique feature is that it is a beer made with Amazonian warana, the controlled designation given to guarana. "It's not flavored with warana, but actually refermented with it," insists the young man. 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. Equally serious: "They want to relocate the local Satéré-mawé tribe to exploit the warana." So Arnaud, who is very committed to respecting the environment, decided to do things differently. To avoid contributing to this devastation, he sources his supplies from responsible channels, working directly with the local tribal chief. "This proves that it is possible to use rare ingredients while doing the right thing," argues Arnaud Buffet.
An ethical and eco-friendly approach that has proven successful: today, Timbo can be found in more than 200 outlets in 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 now gained the recognition and trust of his partners.
Organic and fair trade ingredients
And this is just the beginning: Arnaud Buffet and his associates continue to travel the world in search of organic, fair trade ingredients to create new flavors. Their goal is to create one beer per continent. Mission accomplished for Africa and Asia: the "The Eye's Hunter" family grew in 2015 with the birth of Djembé, a white beer with hibiscus from Senegal, and Kâma, an amber beer with ginger from Sri Lanka. The next step for the young globetrotting entrepreneur is to "find the ingredients that will enable him to concoct beverages for Europe and Oceania." This will complete his world tour of flavors.
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