Beerhouse gives market a taste of things to come

Florin Stoian intends to make Berestroika a strong brand on the local beerhouse market, with the opening of two new locations in 2011 – one in Bucharest and the other in Timisoara or Sibiu – next on his agenda.

Anca Ionescu

Florin Stoian, general manager of Berestroika, began his entrepreneurial journey in the Horeca industry in 2008, when he decided to set up the Berestroika pub. But his CV also boasts other business experience: Stoian spent several years working in GSM retail. He graduated from the Faculty of Economic Studies in Bucharest but was always tempted to go into business, a world that he learned a lot about as an employee of different companies.

A few years ago, Stoian and his cousin Florin Gugiu established FutureCom, a company specialized in distributing and topping up mobile phone SIMs. But they were forced to close the business in 2008 because of pressure from the larger GSM operators. This was the moment when he switched his attention to the Horeca industry, setting up Berestroika.

“After we decided to close the GSM business, Florin Gugiu and I decided to go to a trade fair in Hannover. There we discovered the charm of beerhouses. Because we wanted to open a restaurant, we decided to launch a completely different establishment than what the market could offer at that time,” remembers Stoian.

Soon they happened upon the ideal location for Berestroika. The arrangements were finalized in November last year, with the location being totally redecorated and the main architecture maintained. The pub – actually a micro-tap house – was launched under the concept of providing unfiltered, homemade beer and natural, fresh and “green label” food. The investment in the premises alone was about EUR 200,000, a fraction of the EUR 500,000 the two entrepreneurs put up from their personal financial resources.

“We were inspired by the Austrian and German business models. We wanted to offer natural, ‘homemade’ beer on the local market, based on original German recipes, natural food and high quality entertainment,” says the young entrepreneur. He adds that the natural, environmentally friendly food was intended to be the engine of their business while the beer was meant to be the second unique ingredient. “Together, the beer and food create Berestroika, a strong brand that is able to rapidly develop,” says Stoian. “Beer is just one attraction of Berestroika because we have created a complete concept: good food, unique beer, music and entertainment of high quality.”

Stoian says the biggest difficulty was to find people able to perfectly understand the partners’ business philosophy and what they really wanted to communicate through the Berestroika brand. “Besides this, it all had a natural course. We had run other businesses and we already knew the main difficulties a start-up business might face. But we took measures to counteract any negative effect,” says the entrepreneur.

If he started another business, he probably wouldn’t change anything. “I love what I do. I like the effect that Berestroika has had on its market and I like that Romanians are starting to understand some elements of the ‘beer culture’,” adds the businessman. He says that there are plenty of daily challenges in the services industry. “First, the most important thing is to satisfy your customers, to make them come back to your restaurant. Last but not least, my biggest challenge as an owner is to continuously keep the level high and not allow the quality of our services to fall,” explains Stoian.

The cousins’ business is in a very competitive industry, and so their challenges are even greater. And they need to permanently focus on their customers’ needs. “As you know, the restaurant market in Bucharest is pretty crowded, with the beerhouse segment home to several established brands that are helped by their name and history. As for us, our business is positioned on a market niche and we intend to achieve about 20 percent of the market share of the leader of the beerhouse segment in Romania,” says the general manager.

Stoian thinks that the natural food and beer are the main things that differentiate Berestroika from the crowd. Plus, customers find an enjoyable atmosphere with Bavarian music almost every night. The entrepreneur says that because Berestroika is a young business, active on the local market since November 2009, he cannot estimate its market share. But the owners have big plans. “What do we intend to do? Well, we want to teach Romanians how to appreciate the concepts of healthy food and natural, draft and unfiltered beer. Our target is people with medium and high incomes who want to spend a quality time in a discreet location.”

Going forward, Stoian says the partners intend to launch a second Berestroika beerhouse in Bucharest next year and another one in Timisoara or Sibiu, most likely at the end of 2011.

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