How did you become an entrepreneur? Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I am a real ‘people person’ and I love pretty much all things food and drink. Which is a great combination because, in my experience, there are few things sweeter than eating a delicious meal with a drink that perfectly matches and company who inspire conversation. I’m also very curious; which is probably why I’m a firm believer that in a good bar the best seat is right in front of the bartender; and why I love restaurants with open kitchens. Although, I must admit that I may not be the most riveting of conversation partners in either of those situations. Far too much of my attention would be taken by observing the recipes and techniques on display.
I also consider myself to be quite creative. I spent a lot of my teenage years in and around theatre, I found the process of taking an idea or a script to a full production in a matter of weeks or months to be incredibly rewarding.
Curiosity and creativity are probably the two traits which I would credit with pushing me to become an entrepreneur. Fundamentally, entrepreneurs are problem solvers. Curiosity helps me to understand how things work, while my creativity identifies ways in which they could work better, or at least differently. My father is an engineer right to his core, so growing up I was encouraged to look at things with an analytical mindset, he taught me take concepts back to their base ideas in order to reconstruct them, or sometimes to smash them to pieces.
The combination of this entrepreneur’s mindset and a love of food and drink were a natural marriage which led to the birth of the Austrian Cider Company.
What led to you founding the Austrian Cider Company?
During my gap year I moved to France, after working in a hotel in the Alps I went to the Côte d’Azur. As well as learning the language, it was there that I met an amazing Austrian girl, now my girlfriend of 6 years, and my exploration of Austria began.
Austria has a very special food a drinks landscape. The nature of the landscape, which is rarely flat and open, makes mass production rare. The small scale of production dictates quality as a differentiator among competitors more often than price. Many communities are separated by mountain ranges, the result of which is that even in today’s hugely globalised economy, you find many products which are unique to a valley. Farmers and businesses provide the products which support their communities, who support them in turn. The different climates and geographies within a relatively small country, have bred a diverse range of products. From the dairy industry in the mountains of Tirol and Salzburg to the red wines of Burgenland and white wines of the Wachau, Austrians are really spoilt.
You may have noticed that cider wasn’t in that list. It would be inaccurate to say that there is no cider in Austria, the traditional style here is called ‘Most’ (pronounced Moss-t). However, Most has never achieved the level of popularity which cider has in the UK and other traditional cider areas in France and Spain. A result of that is that, despite the rolling hills of orchards, my visits here always seemed to be missing a glass of cider.
Cider is a drink which has always been a big part of my life. Even though I grew up in Buckinghamshire, my Dad was raised in the cider homeland of the West Country and made sure to pass down his love of great cider.
I was once told that “in hospitality you will never earn a five-star salary, but you will live a five-star lifestyle”, and in my experience that rings true. During my time working in London I had the opportunity to visit friends of mine in the industry who worked at some of the most amazing hotels, restaurants and bars. We do a great job of taking care of our own in the hospitality industry, and on any visit, you are made to feel like royalty. While on these visits, I once again noticed that the possibility of a glass of cider was all too often missing. As far as I could see, their absence was nothing to do with the qualities of cider as a drinks group. I knew very well that ciders can delicious, complex and come in a wide range of styles to suit many different occasions and food pairings. Instead it’s the image of cider which can sometimes be a stumbling block. In Germany they call cider “Apfelwein” or “apple wine”, which in typical German naming style is fantastically literal, after all when made ‘properly’ cider is just a wine made from apples, and in my humble opinion should be presented and respected as such.
Working as a waiter I often served guests with different dietary requirements, and while the availability of gluten-free and vegan food products was good, it could be difficult to provide an appropriate drinks option.
I suppose this is where my ‘entrepreneurial mindset’ kicked in. Austria deserved a cider which reflected the quality of its produce and diners; drinks enthusiasts deserved the opportunity to enjoy a cider when visiting their favourite bars and restaurants; and those with dietary requirements should be provided for. I founded the Austrian Cider Company to achieve those goals and to showcase the elegant side of cider.
What are some of the obstacles you have faced growing the business and how did you overcome them?
I started the business quite soon after arriving in Austria which meant that I hadn’t really had a chance to dig my roots in yet. Starting a business can be somewhat all consuming, so to have other aspects of your life to focus on is important. University was great for me, not only in terms of learning, but it also gave me a space where I could focus on something other than the company and a place where I could meet interesting people. Our class had 35 students from around 27 countries which made for a great mix of cultures, perspectives and ideas and I’m fortunate enough that I have made some lifelong friends from among them.
Another important part of establishing my roots was getting to grips with the language. I had been gradually learning German since meeting my girlfriend and was quite good with my understanding, but the idea of moving here moved quite swiftly to the reality of being here and when I arrived my German speaking, reading and writing left a lot to be desired. I have always been someone that likes to a) see results quite quickly, and b) talk. This meant that learning the language could be quite frustrating. Strangely, I had quite a transformative experience in a ski shop before my first winter here. I was in the position where I had no choice but to push myself out of my comfort zone and communicate in German, and I was really surprised when I found out that I could. That probably sounds ridiculous, it wasn’t that I flicked a switch and my German was instantly perfect, but I proved to myself that I could communicate and be understood. That visit gave me not only a freshly waxed pair of skis, but the confidence to start speaking German as part of my everyday life.
The step of taking the business from a nice idea on paper to reality was big for me. Most cider companies start from the position of owning an orchard, which was never going to be possible for me. Instead I had the opportunity to search for the best farm to buy apples from.
I am a big proponent of organic farming; I believe we should slowly shift towards organic being the ‘base’ standard for farming. By reducing the amount of pesticides, herbicides and artificial fertilisers we can sustainably create healthy soil, naturally rich in nutrients. Healthy soil makes for healthy trees which make great tasting fruit, which in turn make for great tasting cider.
This narrowed down my search to certified organic farms, and after a lot of research I partnered with a fantastic family run farm on the hilly slopes on the north side of the Danube. The farm is at relatively low altitude which reduces the risk of the apple trees suffering from frost damage in early spring; the sloped orchards help the apples to ripen by exposing more of them to greater amounts of sunlight as well as helping with soil drainage; while the situation close to the river makes the area relatively windy, drying the fruit and protecting the apples from mould and disease. In short, without buying a farm, I was able to build a relationship with a fantastic farmer who grows, and hand picks our apples.
I have always managed to achieve more by working together with others, than by competing against them. That probably sounds obvious, but for me it included someone who on paper would be defined as a competitor. As the saying goes, a high tide rises all boats. Not long ago I had a startup stand at the German speaking area’s largest Food and Beverage exhibition. You are competing with hundreds, if not thousands of other companies for the attention of the visitors. After listening to everyone pitch to customers, it wasn’t long before we knew what all the other startups were offering. Instead of working against each other, when one of us had captured the attention of a visitor who we thought may also be interested in the one of the other startups’ products, we would pass them along. These ‘referrals’ meant we were able to spend less time trying to attract attention and more time pitching, benefitting everyone.
As you grew the business, what have been some of the most important leaderships lessons you have learned?
Now the company is still at the stage where it is a “one man show”. That isn’t to say that I don’t receive lots of wonderful support from my friends and family, but it does mean that most of the time I am working independently or with contractors.
Through my academic life I have studied about leadership styles and theories etcetera, but I still come back to something which Richard instilled in me years ago. People are at the heart of everything you do. No matter what business you are in, at some stage you will be working for, together with, or looking after people, so it is essential that you know how to look after and get the best out of them. I believe that Human Capital is the only way for businesses to develop a sustainable competitive advantage. With no employees, for me this means firstly selecting the best contractors and suppliers, then building a relationship which means that they want to work with you, not just for the business but because they value working with you. It also reflects how I work with my outlets; I want to make sure that staff at the outlets know me, are engaged with the brand and knowledgeable about the product. That way there is a real connection when they are recommending me to the customer.
Entrepreneurial spirit is everywhere, and not everyone will go on to start their own company, and even if they do, they will most likely work for someone else first. Being able to nurture and harness this spirit is therefore an incredibly valuable skill.
Ask any of my previous managers and they would tell you that I inundated them with questions, to the point of frustration on several occasions I am sure. It wasn’t simply me trying to test their knowledge, but a burning curiosity to find out how things worked, why things were done the way they were and therefore how they could be improved.
One property I worked in gave the opportunity for staff to pitch their ideas directly to the hotel directors, who could then “invest” in the best ideas and make them a reality in the hotel. Here I was able to use all that information I had been collecting back into the business. This entrepreneurial outlet provided allowed me to go above and beyond my day job to contribute to the organisation. I was recognised, valued and appreciated for the creativity and ideas which I brought to the company and it made me feel fantastic.
In academia there is this term “intrapreneurship” which refers to a system which allows for entrepreneurship to happen within an organisation. This ‘Dragons Den’ style pitch is only one example of how this could be implemented. Much simpler solutions could be just as effective within a department.
Where do you see the Austrian Cider company business going from here?
I’m really excited for everything to get going again. We were just about to launch in a few outlets before Corona happened and it will be great to see the response from the public as they try our cider for the first time. The customers who have ordered through our online shop have been really enjoying the cider, with a lot of them reordering regularly, so I’m confident that our outlets will get a similar response.
There are also lots of exciting plans on the horizon, I can’t give too much away, but are expanding quickly, and are always looking for new outlets to partner with. There are some deals in the pipeline which we hope to conclude soon, so keep your eyes on our social media to see when an outlet is opening close to you.
I am keen to develop the brand more, so further down the line we will be adding more products to our range, attending and creating some more events, as well as entering new international markets.
What practical advice do you have for others looking to start their own business? What are the first three tasks someone should complete before they launch?
1. It sounds so simple, but you should discuss your idea with people around you that you trust. Preferably these people should have at least some knowledge of the market you are looking to enter, and you should make sure that they are honest with you. Your idea doesn’t have to be fully developed at this point, but the chances are if your friends and family think it is a terrible idea (we all have them) then the market will too. You’ll also be pleasantly by the amount of support you receive, how many people you know, know someone else who could really help your business out.
2. I think its really important to reflect on yourself as the entrepreneur. What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? What resources do you have? What skills can you buy in? Do you know anyone that might be interested in getting involved in your business that could fill some of your skills gaps? No one is the complete package, and its important to know what you need to work on before someone (like an investor or a bank) starts pointing it out to you.
3. Using the information from the first two steps you should help you to write a comprehensive business plan. It is hard to ask yourself the painful questions, but it is
much better that you find ways to refine or change your idea before you use up the resources you need to make it happen.
With so many ciders in the market, what makes the Austrian Cider company special and different from others?
Our goal is to showcase the elegant side of cider. This starts with our apples. Austria has amazing terroir for orcharding, combined with a fantastic organic movement. The way that the Austrian Cider Company is set up gives us the flexibility to seek out the very best organic apples (or any other fruit…) to make our cider. Selecting organic apples helps us not only to make great tasting cider, but it’s also great for the environment, as it helps to protect the biodiversity of the orchards by dramatically reducing the quantity of pesticides and herbicides sprayed.
While many cider areas are famous for ciders made from specific apples of using specific methods, not being a country with a long heritage of cider making, we are relatively free in terms of what styles of cider we can make. Our flagship cider ‘Fuschlsee Cuvée’ for example, is made from three varieties of dessert apples which are rarely used in cider making. These varieties were chosen as they allowed us to create a wonderfully fruity medium-dry cider with a refreshing acidity and low tannins. The flavour profile of our Fuschlsee Cuvée means isn’t just enjoyable drinks for cider lovers but the perfect glass for those new to the world of cider to begin their exploration with.
I want to share the joy of cider with as many people as possible, so our cider is not only gluten free and vegan but is also made without the addition of sulphites. From the perspective of the restaurateur I believe this is fantastic, as it provides you with a delicious addition to your drinks menu which is great for pairing with food; for those with dietary requirements or for someone looking for a drink which is naturally lower in alcohol.
