Beija was created and launched by two young entrepreneurs, Kevin Beardsley and Steve Diforio. Here is their story.

Beija

In the summer of 2005 Kevin participated in an internship with Bank of America in Sao Paulo, Brazil. While in Brazil, he fell in love with Brazilian culture and the country’s national spirit called Cachaça.

“I’m not a rum drinker, but I loved the light natural flavor that the super-premium cachaças delivered. It is such a rich, diverse category and I became fascinated with the subtle differences between premium brands.”

“A lot of the finer artisanal cachaças are produced on small farms and they don’t have the infrastructure to maintain strict quality controls. The larger producers have quality controls in place, but they lose a lot of the natural, light flavor that I came to love. I realized that if someone could create a cachaça with the quality and flavor of an artisanal cachaça yet maintain the quality controls and production standards of a larger brand, it could be a paradigm shift in the category,” recalls Kevin.

When he returned to finish his senior year at Duke University, Kevin was on a mission. He brought back about a dozen bottles of cachaça and began contacting suppliers from across Brazil. He also hired a graphic design artist, Matt Tauch, to develop the logo and brand concept.

“In addition to the bottles I brought back with me, I had about 20 suppliers in Brazil to send me their best cachaças. I feel pretty confident that my cachaça collection could have rivaled anyone’s in the US at the time.”

“In February of 2006, I knew I was graduating soon and had to pick a direction. My choices were to go into finance or throw everything on the line and start Beija. I knew I couldn’t do it alone so I called Steve Diforio, one of my best friends from high school.” recalls Kevin.

“Kevin called me one afternoon and asked me if I wanted to start a company. I had been giving feedback on the logo and sampling cachaças with him since September and I definitely saw the potential of the idea. By the end of that conversation I knew it was what I wanted to do.” said Steve.

Both Kevin and Steve graduated in May of 2006 and immediately set about developing Beija full time. They knew Boston was where they wanted to launch Beija, and Kevin moved to Boston the week after graduation. Steve moved back in with his parents in CT to save money and they both worked part time jobs so they could focus on Beija full time.

“That first year was extremely difficult for us.” Remembers Kevin “I was working as a valet and teaching SAT prep classes at night. I could barely cover rent, much less go out at night. I ate more instant noodles and hotdogs than I care to admit.”

“I was working part time for a publishing company in NYC and commuting to Boston on my days off to work on Beija. It was not comfortable at all.” recalls Steve.

During that first year, they incorporated Beija Corp., secured distribution in MA, and opened a round of financing.

“We knew securing distribution was the key to the operation. We heard that a distributor would pick up a brand if restaurants agreed to purchase it. We didn’t have a finished product, much less a bottle contract at the time. What we did was print our label onto an overhead projector transparency and tape it to a generic clear bottle from Brazil. We spent the second half of the summer of 2006 walking to every bar and restaurant in Boston.” said Kevin.

By the end of the summer they had amassed a respectable list of bars and restaurants that said they would be interested in a super-premium cachaça.

“We took that list to the top distributors in MA and MS Walker agreed to give us a shot. The president shook our hand, told us we had a distributor, and said to come back with a finished product.”

“Looking back on it, I can’t believe that he took us seriously. We walked in to his office with a generic bottle and a label printed at Kinko’s, asking for distribution.”

“We owe the folks at MS Walker a lot, they were the first to give us a shot at making this a success. Most importantly, when we went back to them a year later with a finished product, they honored their handshake without hesitation. That’s how stand-up those guys are.” recalls Steve.

After securing distribution, Kevin and Steve set about finishing Beija. Steve secured a contract with a French bottle maker, and over the next six months they finalized the packaging.

In late 2006 it became apparent that the pair would need to travel to Brazil to finalize the formulation of Beija.

“We had narrowed it down to two suppliers who could conceivably produce a product of the quality that we knew we wanted” remembers Steve “We knew we would have to go to Brazil, but by that time we were both totally broke”

“It was a real make-or-break decision” reminisces Kevin, “we only had credit cards and our dream. One night we decided we had to go for it and booked our tickets. We spent two weeks in March of 2007 meeting with the potential suppliers, touring their facilities and getting to know the master distillers.”

When the duo returned to the US, they had a supplier locked up. They spent the next few months sending samples back and forth with the supplier, making minor modifications to the formulation.

In the summer of 2007, they had locked in a proprietary blend of the finest cachaças from Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais states.
Due to delays in export permits with the French and Brazilian governments, it would not be until December that the finished product hit the US shores.

“We did our first event on NYE 2007 in New York. We got booked into a private party whose guest list included a lot of the NY Giants, NE Patriots, Playboy Playmates and other celebrities. It was the culmination of two and a half years of struggle and neither of us could believe it was actually happening. At one point in the night Plaxico Burress of the Giants asked me for a Beija cocktail. It was pretty incredible.” recalls Steve. In early January they introduced Beija to Boston with a private introduction at Eastern Standard.

“The guys at Eastern Standard, Jackson Cannon and Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli, both got behind Beija right away. These guys are two of the best mixologists in the country and it was the highest stamp of approval we could have asked for.” remembers Kevin

After the initial launch, the pair went about securing their Elite Accounts; fine dining bars and restaurants that focused on quality cocktails.

“We both love the caipirinha, but from day one we knew Beija had more potential. When the top mixologists in Boston started creating original cocktails with Beija, we knew we had something special,” says Steve.

Kevin and Steve personally visited all of their early accounts and continue to be a common sight at elite Boston bars and restaurants.
In March of 2008, Beija won a Gold Medal at the 2008 International Rum Festival.

“That was a big day for us,” recalls Steve. “We were competing against all of the big boys and came out on top. I don’t know if I’ve ever been as nervous as the night before we heard the results.”

In May of 2008, Anthony Dias Blue of Tasting Panel Magazine rated Beija ‘Outstanding’ – 92 Points.

“At first I couldn’t believe it. I mean, Anthony Dias Blue’s work reaches 20,000,000 people a month and he is without question one of the preeminent forces in the spirits world. We knew we had a great product, but for him to agree with us was absolutely amazing.” recalls Kevin.

By the end of Summer 2008, they had over 65 bars and restaurants in MA featuring Beija, with an additional 40 liquor stores carrying the product.

In the summer of 2008 they expanded operations to CT, and have just secured distribution in RI. The next step will be to bring Beija to New York City before expanding nationally.

“We have always had a focus on linear, controlled growth. We only select the elite locations in a given city, and that allows us to put a personal touch on Beija.” explains Kevin

The ‘Beija Guys’ as they are known around Boston, have a deep respect for mixologists and the mixology community.
“We spend most evening as various locations throughout Boston. We have really gotten to know the mixologists and we are proud to count them as our good friends. The work they do is incredible. One of our favorite parts of the job is going to bars and sampling Beija creations,” says Steve.

“We could not be happier with where we are right now. Three years ago this seemed nearly impossible. During that first year it got pretty dark for us. We were running right on the edge and for a long time we didn’t know if we’d even be able to cover rent the following month.”

“We are extremely grateful to have such an amazing group of people supporting us, and we wake up every morning excited to allow Beija to realize its potential.” expresses Kevin.

The Beija Guys have set their goals high: They dream of building Beija into a global brand.

“From the very beginning we had our eyes set on the global marketplace. The logo can be interpreted in any culture, the concept of a kiss crosses every cultural barrier, and the name Beija can be pronounced as it is in every major European and Asian language.” Explains Kevin, “It seemed a bit ludicrous at the time to be planning expansion to Europe and China when we were eating instant noodles for dinner and didn’t even have a finished product, but we knew where we wanted to be. We just never let go of the dream.”