01:30 - The early days of Deux Frères
12:42 - Creating the perfect recipe
16:53 - The importance of building a good brand
23:09 - Market expansion & distribution
33:48 - Working together as brothers
Florian and Gian Grundböck are the founders of Deux Fréres, a gin company. Before founding Deux Fréres in 2016, Gian studied business administration and was a professional handball player at Grasshopper Club Zürich, and then went on to work for an architecture firm as an executive assistant. Florian, on the other hand, pursued a Bachelor's degree in Food Science and Technology from the Zürich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW).
The Deux Fréres story started when Florian secretly distilled gin in the student lab at ZHAW, creating a unique gin which changed colors. Gian and Florian saw the business opportunity in the uniqueness of the gin, and began the journey of perfecting the recipe and finding the best distillery for their product. Reconnecting with their family roots in Austria proved useful, as it became the main location to source ingredients and the producing distillery of the gin, which led to the success of the company we see today.
After 2 years of starting the company, Florian and Gian had to deal with competitors who were replicating their gin's unique feature: color-changing. Florian and Gian struggled with the possible failure of their business as a result, but remained steadfast in their belief that the quality of their product and the captivating essence of their branding would allow them to stand out and continue their success. They were right!
Since its inception, Deux Fréres Gin has grown exponentially, expanding to other markets outside of Switzerland, with their most recent accomplishment being their distribution expansion in China. Florian and Gian hope to captivate the Chinese market with their craft gin, and grow it extensively in the upcoming months.
Florian and Gian remain ambitious in their future goals for Deux Frères. They hope to establish a warehouse in Switzerland in the near future, as well as introduce more products to widen their target audience and open up their customer base. While growing a bootstrapped company presents a number of challenges, Florian and Gian believe their brotherly bond, their quality products and brand, and their passion for doing what they love will continue to make them successful as they strive to provide consumers with the best products.
“You have to know when it is time to change.”
"In the future, we aim to be more than just gin producers; we also want to be recognized as flavour producers."
If you would like to listen to another founder's unique journey in the spirits industry, check out our episode with Christof Tremp, co-founder and CEO at Rebels 0.0%, a startup producing alcohol-free spirits.
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