We were lucky to catch up with Hyppolite Calixte recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hyppolite, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Cremas has a long and interesting journey throughout my life. I was around 5 or 6 the first time, during Christmas, that I saw my mother making Cremas. I remember it being a long process and it had taken the whole family to make it. I would sit around and watch that process. Of course, being that age, I could drink it. After it’s all and done, It would take a few days for the drink to ferment and that is when it’s ready for tasting. On Christmas eve while we were celebrating and opening our presents, my mother would allow us to drink a teaspoon of it and it was delicious.

I moved to the U.S. at the age of 13 and spent almost 10 years without having it, while I still yearn for this long-held tradition. Thankfully my wife knew how to make Cremas; with a slight difference then the way my mom used to make it.

My wife would make a few bottles for me to give to a few coworkers and friends around the holidays back then. They loved it and would want to know where to get more. That’s when I thought of Cremas as a viable product. I wanted to import it at first. I knew it was made and sold in Haiti so I researched and looked into the export of it. I discovered that Cremas has a long and amazing history. I decided to go to the source and speak to the elders that used to make it in the 1940’s and 50’s to get a better understanding of its history. I wanted to bring the original product to the market, so I learned all that I can on how to make it. It took me years to materialize and it was worth the time to learn what Cremas was and still is.

It is our very core and I want it readily available in the U.S. and introduce this cultural of a drink to a new generation.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am Hyppolite Calixte and I was born in Port au Prince, Haiti. I came to the US when I was 13 years old and have been living here ever since. I study at the University of Bridgeport in CT and received a MBA in Entrepreneurship and Marketing. I got into the industry because of my love for Cremas and the memories that I have of not just enjoying drinking it but the process of making it as well. Those memories and educational background came in handy when I decided to venture into producing and making it available for everyone. I created the brand and visual aspect before we even had an actual product. Because of the history of this drink, my wife and I wanted to make it as authentic as possible. Over the years Cremas had evolved as it passed along to the next generation.

What sets us apart from everyone else in making our drink is when people taste our drink, it brings back memories of their mom or grandma’s Cremas. That’s the main reason we’re so proud of Arcachon Cremas. The message we want to convey is its iconic rich history from the past generations that have made it and strive to maintain it in terms of taste and texture.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

This is a coconut liqueur drink and the first thing I had to do is learn of all the ins and outs of laws that apply to this industry. Let me tell you, it’s a pain in the neck. I had decided that I would outsource the production of this drink to a distillery. The first step was to get a formulation done, we had to turn my kitchen recipe to a commercial formula. We worked with 2 formulation specialists and 3 distilleries and none were able to get the formulation to have the same taste and texture as the one my team and I created. We have spent over 6 six years working with various professionals to get this done right and thousands of dollars to get to this point. We are still not ready for the market.

We looked upon each of these interactions with those companies as valuable lessons learned. I feel that we have gotten smarter as we have been exposed to more of the industry we’re working to be in and gain a valuable group of networks whom we can reach out to if we have an inquiry.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Since we were not able to find a formulation service to create what we wanted. We decided to pivot away from outsourcing the manufacturing from an outside distillery and create our own distillery to manufacture our Cremas. We learned, while working with all these specialists and our formulation consultants, that we needed to do this ourselves if we wanted the approval of our ancestors.

Contact Info:

• Website: arcachoncremas.com
• Instagram: @arcachoncremas
• Facebook: @arcachoncremas
• Twitter: @arcachoncremas
• Youtube: @arcachoncremas

Image Credits
Photography credit to: Lorna Valcin