Dutch tequila? Yes, it’s possible, as proven by the successful startup Tecán Tequila. Founder Ruben Camphuijsen shares the how and why behind this venture.
Three years ago, Ruben Camphuijsen decided to pursue his passion for premium tequila by founding Tecán with two friends, Taco Karthaus and Dale Wesdorp. Their goal was to conquer the Dutch market with unique bottle designs and high-quality reposado tequila.
A Dutch version of this article can be read on the website of our partner: Emerce.
Can you tell us more about yourself and your background? How did Tecán start?
“After completing my master’s in Delft, I worked at Deloitte Financial Advisory. I focused on strategic and financial issues across various industries, which gave me a broad foundation and eventually helped in setting up Tecán.”
The leap from Deloitte to tequila isn’t immediately obvious…
“True. After nearly five years at Deloitte, I began to entertain the idea of launching my own tequila brand. Besides being a big fan of premium tequila myself, I noticed its rising popularity globally, especially in America. It struck me how widely appreciated tequila was there, while in the Netherlands, people often shied away at the mere mention of it.”
Did you notice any other differences?
“The major difference was in the quality of tequila known in America over the Netherlands. I saw it as a great challenge to bring quality tequila to the Netherlands and convince the more conservative Dutch consumer.”
How did your experience at Deloitte help?
“My time at Deloitte gave me the skills to develop a strategic and feasible plan. A crucial aspect of launching Tecán was partnering with two friends. While we share a similar mentality and drive, we also have different social circles, covering everything from the darkest corners of nightclubs to the highest ivory towers. This diverse network helped us roll out our brand even with a relatively small marketing budget. Plus, there’s nothing better than sharing this adventure, which literally brings joy, with friends.”
Dino Wesdorp, Ruben Camphuijsen, Dale Wesdorp, Taco Karthaus.
What makes Tecán stand out in the market?
“We differentiate ourselves in several ways. Firstly, we designed a bottle that looks completely different from what one would expect from a tequila brand—no sombreros, skulls, or other distractions, just a sleek, premium-looking bottle meant to catch the eye at first glance.”
And the contents?
“When people taste it, we aim to offer such a different flavor experience that they are immediately hooked and never fear tequila again. That’s why we launched with a reposado, not the usual blanco. We age our reposado for a long time (8 months), making it very smooth and flavourful—quite different from what the average Dutch person is used to, and we’ve quickly garnered fans.”
That was a deliberate choice, but not the usual first step. How does that work?
“As mentioned, starting with a reposado was unusual in the tequila world, but we try to act on our convictions and not be guided too much by what others think or do. A key part of our core brand value is Bacán (tequila + bacán = Tecán). Bacán is a term used in some South American countries to describe someone characterized by flair and confidence, who lights up a room. We try to reflect this core value in all our plans (marketing, partnerships, etc.).”
How are things going now?
“It’s going great. In Amsterdam, we can probably claim to be one of, if not the, most popular brands. We’re achieving the same or even higher sales volumes as the big established brands. Additionally, we’re the fastest-growing tequila brand at several wholesalers. That’s something we’re extremely proud of and work hard for.”
But, of course, the Netherlands is bigger than just Amsterdam?
“Looking at the broader Randstad area, there’s still significant growth potential. However, you can see that the demand for premium tequila is catching on more and more in other cities as well, so our sales are trailing there, but we see great growth opportunities. Moreover, we’re on the verge of launching in several international markets, which we also have high sales expectations for and which should help expand the brand further in the Netherlands.”
Can you tell us more about those international plans?
“We’re working on several markets where we either want to build the brand or simply sell as many pallets as possible. The latter markets should help improve cash flow, enabling us to invest more in countries where we want to build the brand.”
What kinds of markets are those?
“When we look at markets where we want to build the brand, we keep our home market of the Netherlands strongly in mind. It should complement what we’re doing here, and we shouldn’t suddenly change direction. That’s why we’re working on Belgium and South Africa, among others. Belgium is close and relatively easy with our current network of distributors, but also very similar to Amsterdam two years ago in terms of market.”
And South Africa? That’s not next door.
“Indeed, South Africa isn’t around the corner, but we believe there are great synergies with the Dutch market. It’s their peak season when it’s low season here; there’s a huge demand for tequila, trendy Dutch people look to Cape Town, and ‘Capetonians’ look to what’s trendy in Europe. Plus, with a large number of Dutch people already familiar with our brand, we expect to gain traction quickly there.”
A nice plan. And where do you want to be in five or ten years?
“In the realm of premium tequila, we aim to be the household premium brand in Europe within five years.”
What’s needed to achieve that?
“It’s quite an ambitious goal to achieve this in five years, and it means we need to significantly increase our budgets. We’re getting a lot of great opportunities right now, like collaborations with major international artists, the most popular festival organizations, etc.
However, because we’re growing so fast, we have to invest almost all our liquidity in new stock. And tequila is expensive, as agave (the raw material for tequila) is relatively costly, and because tequila has to be produced in Mexico, which leads to long lead times. To achieve our growth ambition, we need to invest in larger inventories and also need funds to accelerate our marketing and partnerships.”
I assume you’re also looking for something like that in an investor?
“Indeed. Because the brand is becoming increasingly popular, which is evident in the most popular bars and events, we’re frequently asked if we’re looking for investors. While that’s great, we’ve decided in consultation with our current investors to look for a partner who can really contribute to our (international) growth: either someone who can help with sales, like someone with a broad network in (international) hospitality, or someone who can significantly help build international brand awareness in our key markets.”
What is concretely needed in terms of financing?
“Looking at what we expect to need to accelerate our growth over the next two years, we anticipate a total amount between one and two million euros. This is substantial and depends on how many markets we want to focus on. This amount can be divided into about one-third going directly into inventory, one-third needed for marketing and partnerships, and one-third needed for FTEs and other organizational costs. With such financing, we expect to multiply our current revenue by ten and reach positive figures, taking a big step towards our ambition to become the household name for premium tequila in Europe.”
Do you want to say anything else to the readers?
“I invite everyone to be part of this adventure, as it’s a unique and beautiful experience, and there’s little that brings as much joy as the literal pleasure you see on people’s faces when they enjoy your product.”
More information about Tecán Tequila for investors can be found here.