Chjlya - How it started
Brazil has become an integral part of my life: Over twenty years ago I landed in Sao Paulo for professional reasons, where I not only worked for some time, but also learned the Portuguese language. Of course, I traveled around a lot and came in contact with the people. Whether business or pleasure, I stayed over the years in Brazil, always be warm friendships have developed. In retrospect, I can not say what impressed me more: the country, people or culture. Also, the extensive beach life, the Brazilian cuisine and the colorful carnival is of course pure pleasure! So it was inevitable get to know the cachaça and cachaça mixed drinks.
A brilliant idea
At first it was just the idea on a whim: I wanted to mix myself a cocktail and offer this as a unique mixed drink in Germany, maybe I could even conquer the European market with it! What an ambitious challenge behind it, was revealed only in 2011, when I dealt seriously with the idea. Slowly, I felt my way to the topics like cachaça production, the import regulations for food in the EU and the legal requirements for the sale of alcoholic beverages - it was to work through a seemingly endless list of regulations dry.
Cachaça with organic certificate
At the beginning of the year 2012, I went into the diverse world of sugar cane spirits and my equally varied mixes. Suddenly everything was clear: When I tried the certified organic cachaça Tropical Brazilis in my mix, I tasted the true joy cocktail. This cachaça stood in its intensity and fruitiness beyond any competition.
With all my enthusiasm I served both my cocktail composition and the pure organic sugar cane liquor at a party with friends. It may sound funny, but even after I had enjoyed plenty of the drink and the next day did not feel any rumbling aftermath, I was finally convinced of its quality. Everyone starts small, so I used my home kitchen as a development laboratory and found with my wife Heike the perfect blend of cachaça, lime juice, cane sugar and water.
Counted the Rems valley in which I live already a long time as a wine and fruit juice area, I could expand the Swabian lands of another liquid facet: A fruit juice production company whose roots lay in the production of organic and demeter juices, mixed me the organic cachaça to the cocktail.
Departure to South Brazil - Rio Grande do Sul
An uplifting moment was the order of the first container of 1000 liters of organic cachaça Tropical Brazilis, which arrived after 12 weeks by ship in Hamburg. Pentecost 2012 Heike and I traveled to southern Brazil. To build a trusting relationship, we wanted to know the Tropical Brazilis manufacturers personally and wanted to see the ecological cultivation and their distillery.
After the flight to Sao Paulo, we drove 1400 kilometers in the south, almost to the Argentine border. In the small town Crissiumal we met the manager of the seven small farmers cooperative Colonia Nova. Roberto Machado Tormes received us warmly and took the lead of our small car convoy up to his farm 30 kilometers away. Furthermore, we were quite happy as the road led in the darkness of the eveining mostly on dirt roads - people unfamiliar as we would have been lost in the night.
Overwhelming hospitality
Arrived on the idyllic farm, we were led into Roberto's own stone house where we were staying during our visit. He moved to the house of his parents in the neightborhood as a matter of course. In his cozy living room with open fireplace we got to know Roberto's parents - obviously hardworking people who were accustomed to hard work in the fields all her life. With them there was later a joint dinner with chicken soup, bread and red wine. For us Europeans unusual: In the soup were floating chicken feet. It was very helpful for me to be able to talk at least some portuguese and to follow a small conversation. Tired, but in a cheerful mood to have made the trip to these nice people with their honest joy, we went to bed - in Roberto's bedroom.
Ecological sustainability-certified sugar cane cultivation
In the morning we went with Roberto to his sugar cane fields. He showed us the planting tongues, the covered manure of their animals to fertilize the fields, the cistern to collect the rainwater and the simple accommodation of its field workers. To ensure the sustainable, organic farming and his certification he had to delimit its sugar cane fields with high dense bushes and trees against the neighboring fields of other farmers. This is to prevent the wind blowing the chemical fertilizer in neighboring fields over to him. We also went to the river Uruguay, the border river to Argentina, where he showed us the forest, he had reforested five years ago. In the afternoon we visited the families of other small farmers, with whom he is doing together the ecological cultivation. Then we explored its distillery and workshops for the production and bottling of the cachaça.
Fair trade: a matter of honor
After the days together it was clear to us: Our expectations were definitely exceeded. The mutual relationship of trust in the promising cachaça business had a solid foundation, and our intuition told us not to negotiate the price of the cachaça. We are still convinced that these people have offered a fair price and should get this amount.
Overshoot with organic label and brand name
Full of creative power we headed home to the last tasks to begin the professional production and distribution. A bit proud we are to act as the first manufacturer of an alcoholic mixed drink with organic seal.
The creation of the brand name is likely to cause a smile: On the kitchen table, we played with the names of our three children Scrabble. So we stired the letters of Yannic (18), Silja (17) and Chiara (13) some times and ended up with the solution: Chjlya - what could be more beautiful than to chill with Chjlya? Now the brand Chjlya is protected in the patent office.
Brazilian Carnival Dancer: logo!
Peppy Brazilian zest for life, sustainable-organic farming, organic certification and a sexy appearance: This is what we wanted to see and feel in our logo, decorating the dainty bottles. All this conveys the Brazilian carnival dancer in her stylized Chjlya-presentation. In this sense it is important to us, to bring to our customers and people interested in Chjlya a strong cry "Saúde" - with which you say cheers in Brazil.