Calyce Cider Bar: portrait of a sparkling graduate entrepreneur!

19 April 2019 By

A Master in Management graduate in 2017, Camille Guilleminot set out on a passionate entrepreneurship journey with the launch of Calyce Cider Bar in 2018, the first 100% cider box. A look back at a journey full of ups and downs.

“Up until last year, my career path was quite conventional: a literary preparatory class that gave me the opportunity to join NEOMA BS, and then my first internships in what I thought at the time to be my favourite sector: communication. Then came my gap-year, and my decision  to try my luck abroad. I moved to Manchester in the north-west of England. By meeting people, I then received an offer I couldn’t refuse: to join a small budding tech. start-up as Head of Marketing,”  says Camille Guilleminot. By the end of 2017, it was time for her to find her first job! This was with Zyl, a French start-up in the world of apps. “Ironically, I was made redundant just 24-hours after officially signing a permanent contract. Then without hesitation, I took the plunge and launched my own start-up: Calyce Cider Bar, the first 100% cider box.” She quickly joined NEOMA BS Incubators to increase her chances of success in the development of her idea through coaching, meetings with experts, mentoring, networking, training, competitions…

Calyce is the guarantee each month of discovering an atypical and exclusive selection of local and international ciders that challenge the cider codes. Their mission: to restore the image of cider in France and facilitate access to small producers. Every month, subscribers receive a selection of four exceptional artisanal ciders from France and elsewhere. Whether it is a cider aged in a whisky barrel or fermented using champagne yeast… there is something for all tastes! Today Calyce is  B2C-oriented, but is now branching out into the B2B market with two new offers.

“The first is aimed at Works Councils and HR departments. Tasting workshops, employee afterwork events, holiday gift boxes… we would like to offer opportunities for sharing and celebrating within the company… over a glass of cider. Our second offer is aimed at catering professionals. Authenticity, originality and high-quality tastes; we track down the best French cider makers renowned for their craftsmanship and acclaimed for their unique taste. Thanks to a simple and efficient logistics system we are able to offer the finest brewed ciders at the lowest price in the Paris region.”

As with any entrepreneur, this start-up means a lot to our graduate: “Becoming an entrepreneur is a response to the need to create new stories, to start from scratch, to innovate in order to reshape the world around me in a better way. It’s a permanent adventure where I have to constantly reinvent myself, leave my comfort zone and learn as much as I can to be able to continue to grow and make my small business grow.”

You can find the full range of ciders on the website : https://calyce-cider.com/ !​