We Love Brussels
  • Urban Life
    • Urban Jungle
    • Photo Stories
    • But Why?
    • Smart City
    • City Branding
    • Seniors
    • Real Estate
  • Culture & Creativity
    • New Economy
    • Local Makers & Shakers
    • Illustrations
    • Fashion City
  • Discover & Meet
    • Travel & Tourism news
    • Foodie guide
  • Event Diary
  • Europolitan Trends
Social Links
Instagram 47K Followers
Facebook 45K Likes
Twitter 8K Followers
  • Our Story
  • Partnerships & Collaborations
  • Contact
47K
45K
8K
We Love Brussels
We Love Brussels
  • Urban Life
    • Urban Jungle
    • Photo Stories
    • But Why?
    • Smart City
    • City Branding
    • Seniors
    • Real Estate
  • Culture & Creativity
    • New Economy
    • Local Makers & Shakers
    • Illustrations
    • Fashion City
  • Discover & Meet
    • Travel & Tourism news
    • Foodie guide
  • Event Diary
  • Europolitan Trends
  • Community news
  • The team
  • Building the platform
  • Community of city admirers
  • Partnerships & Collaborations
  • Get in Touch
Become our contributor. Join the team!

Sign up for our newsletter

Get our periodical updates. Zero spam.

  • local makers & shakers
  • New Economy

Interview: Julien & Matt, founders of Buddy Buddy

  • Boro Milovic
  • November 29, 2020
  • 3 minute read

We continue uncovering the best of Brussels as we speak with Julien and Matt, founders of Buddy Buddy, the first nut butter café in Belgium. Julien is from Brussels, Matt from New Zealand. Their beautifully-designed atelier & coffee bar is located just behind the Apple Store on Rue des Drapiers 10. They have quickly become well-known across the country as creators of premium bio nut butters. Their products are made in small batches and on-site, high in plant-based protein, fibre, healthy fats and low in carbs, all this in addition to being extremely tasty. This is an inspiring story about entrepreneurship, love for coffee & nut butters and urban life in the EU capital city.

First and foremost, what exactly is Buddy Buddy?
Buddy Buddy is a nut butter atelier and specialty coffee bar that opened in December 2019.

Can you tell us more about you, who are the people behind the brand?
Behind Buddy Buddy are two buddies:
Julien from Brussels and Matt from New Zealand.

But why did you choose nut butters? And what is making your brand special? (Oh, and what about coffee?) 🙂
We really struggled to find good quality nut butters in Belgium. We love and eat a lot of them since we’re vegan and need more protein, fiber, good fats and nutrients in our diet – which nuts are full of. That’s why we started roasting and grinding our own nut butters at home a few years ago and ended up really getting into it! We always knew we wanted to open a specialty coffee bar. After a lot of travel and reflection, we decided a coffee bar alone wasn’t going to cut it. So we thought why not merge the coffee bar idea with our nut butter obsession? The two businesses ended up synching nicely – we can show off the versatility of nut butters at the cafe and educate locals on nut butters being hidden gems, not American junk food.

We live 5 mins walk away from our chosen location. It’s great because we feel we’ve created a sense of community in a street which is otherwise deserted. We believe the best food and beverage businesses are not on the high street.

How did you choose your location – we love the fact that it’s a bit hidden and yet it is right in the heart of the busy district between Porte de Namur and Louiza?

We were selfish in choosing our location! We live 5 mins walk away from our chosen location. It’s great because we feel we’ve created a sense of community in a street which is otherwise deserted. We believe the best food and beverage businesses are not on the high street. High street cafes don’t have to worry about quality as they’ll always have lots of passing trade. Our customers seek us out because they care about quality and non-industrial products. Thanks to Instagram, Google Maps and Happy Cow, the right people can find us easily.

We’re a couple who love the simple things in life and great cafes!

Doing business in the times of pandemic has certainly been a challenge. How did you manage?
We have to rise to the challenge or die. Luckily we have a dual business approach. While the cafe suffered, we pushed the nut butters and they boomed. Demand exceeded supply but we didn’t want to let the opportunities slip. The ongoing challenges are mastering things we’ve never experienced previously: logistics, procurement, distribution, sales, cashflow, international trade, etc. We just had to make it work and somehow we’re still floating along!

What’s your take on Brussels? How do you feel about the city in general and what do you love?
Brussels has a sense of dynamism and energy which is hard to deny. It’s artistic, creative, liberal and diverse.

What’s one thing that you would change/improve in the city?
For Julien – I’d streamline everything – there are too many different communes with different rules and it’s kind of a mess.
For Matt – more safe bike lanes!

What advice would you give to someone who wants to start his/her own business?
There are hundreds of things we wish we knew before starting Buddy Buddy! Perhaps the most important thing is to be very persistent. We had countless people tell us “no”. “No” seems like an automatic response in Brussels bureaucracy. But keep persisting and you’ll get there.

Photos: Buddy Buddy instagram & Futura studio.

Total
8
Shares
Like 8
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Like 0
Share 0
Boro Milovic

Boro is the founder and editor-in-chief of WeLoveBrussels. His interests revolve around EU affairs, cultural diplomacy, tourism & place branding, digital strategy, local brands and entrepreneurship. He is a passionate supporter of cities, regions & united Europe.

You May Also Like
View Post
  • culture & creativity
  • local makers & shakers

#StillAlive, a tribute to the dying cultural sector

  • Editorial Team
  • December 30, 2020
View Post
  • local makers & shakers
  • Urban Life

Connecting Brussels: we will not let go of each other!

  • Editorial Team
  • November 12, 2020
View Post
  • New Economy
  • real estate

City of Brussels supports the temporary occupation for vacant buildings

  • Editorial Team
  • October 26, 2020
Brussels Inspiration Bureau

Exploring the best of Brussels since 2014.

Discover more!
Our columnists & bloggers:
Aleksandra Rowicka
Addicted to cultural life of Brussels, fashion photography and dark…
Aris Setya
Indonesian living in Brussels. Passionate about photography. Love…
Boro Milovic
Boro is the founder and editor-in-chief of WeLoveBrussels. His interests…
Clara Mascia
Italian girl & Erasmus Student in Brussels. Graduated in Foreign…
Emilia Valbum
Expat from Copenhagen living in Brussels. EU + global politics nerd on…
Fadi Dalati
A urologist by profession, and a photographer by passion. I try to…
Karolina
Karolina is a blogger sharing stories on European cities, local…
kateinbrussels
I am Kate. I've lived in Brussels for 16 years and am still discovering…
Meredith @ellesbxl
Meredith Geldof is a Flemish girl who moved to Brussels and enjoys…
Tireless_Traveler
Nath is born and raised in Brussels but with a serious case of…
Download our free guide!
Incentives & events in Brussels:
Incentives & events in Brussels:
Missed our printed edition?
Press Club Brussels Europe
As seen in
25 most popular instagram accounts in Belgium

Get our periodical updates. Zero spam.

Instagram 47K Followers
Facebook 45K Likes
Twitter 8K Followers
welovebrussels
  • Our story & more
  • Get in Touch
  • Privacy Policy
  • Legal notice
Brussels Inspiration Bureau. Your guide to city life, travel tips, Brussels events agenda & news.

Input your search keywords and press Enter.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.