Bachelor student Andrei Badila opens up Patibon Chocolate flagship store in Vienna

The internship semester in the Bachelor of Business Administration program is an opportunity for students to try out working in the industry before starting their careers after graduation. For Andrei Badila, he went above and beyond to become a successful entrepreneur before even receiving his degree, opening the first European branch of the Patibon “Source of Chocolate” luxury chocolate brand that has its origins in Beirut, Lebanon.

The Patibon brand is regarded as one of the most important chocolate brands in the Middle East, and to date has branches in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and now, thanks to Andrei, in Vienna.  The shop features a wide range of exquisite in-house labeled chocolates, dragées, confectionery and delights made with high quality, preservative-free ingredients.

Andrei shares his path from tasting Patibon chocolate in Beirut to becoming a Managing Director of the Vienna store.

‘’I started collaborating with Patibon Trading SARL while I was on a business trip in Beirut. From tasting the chocolate to deciding to open up branches in Europe was a matter of 4 minutes. Due to the chocolate’s delicious and consistent taste, and most importantly with not so much sugar in the recipe, I considered that importing Lebanese chocolate to the European market is absolutely necessary.

After coming back to Vienna, I drew up a plan for the next steps. It started with one major important question: “Is it allowed to import chocolate from the Middle East to Austria?”. I found out that not only is it possible, there are no customs taxes when importing chocolate from Lebanon to Austria, due to the good friendship Lebanon has with the EU.

The second step was to calculate an approximate start-up investment. I basically needed to found a limited company, find an office, storage, and of course, a location for the first Patibon Flagship Store in Vienna. In order to found a company here things go really fast; you need nothing more than a passport, few papers from back home and the minimum € 5,000 capital.

Still, an address where the company will be registered is definitely required, and it was already time to start searching for a location for my first store. I managed to find a spot inside the shopping gallery at the Marriott Hotel Vienna in the city centre. Located inside a five star hotel with 90% occupancy, the shop needed a serious renovation in order to meet the Patibon standards, which took two and a half months. It was quite an adventure I must say!

After all legal matters were settled, the company set, a tax advisor consulting me, the permit for import in order, and the shop almost done, I had to decide (of course after doing market research) on the varieties that would best suit the European taste and also bring the Lebanese tradition to Austria. In the end, I selected 35 handmade varieties of chocolates and sweets and ordered 2000 kg. of chocolate for the next 5-6 months.

On the 15th of November 2014, everything regarding the company, flagship store, and organisational matters was solved. Just in time for Christmas holiday, we opened up and had the huge surprise to receive great feedback and more than 1000 customers in one and a half months.

Once I saw that everything was running smoothly, I took the liberty of disconnecting a bit from the flagship store and started working to create the website.

After long discussions, marketing plans, management plans, market research, and also being careful with the budget, I decided together with my staff to open an online shop as well. Because our development plans include the whole of Europe including Russia, we decided to have five languages for our online shop: German, English, French, Romanian, and Russian.

The design and construction of the website and the online shop took six months and a lot of money, but it looks amazing! The online shop has many features including building your own box, and it offers worldwide shipping on everything from ready-to-go boxes to luxurious chocolate arrangements placed on silver or gold plates.

Our marketing strategies include exclusively social media platforms, social media advertising, and social media engaging. This decision comes from the knowledge I have gained at Modul University Vienna about the power and high value of social media platforms.

What I have learned from this journey is that without enough good education, one cannot do something professional and sustainable. A very important thing that this experience has made me understand is that one has to take every opportunity, and to act at the right moment. I always say ‘’don’t wait for the perfect moment, it will never come; go and make the perfect moment’’.

At MODUL University Vienna I have learned the theoretical parts that I needed in order to learn the practical parts. I certainly recommend the “learning by doing” structure, because it made be more responsible and more confident in myself. MU offered me the chance to become what I am today, a young and successful entrepreneur with still a lot of opportunities awaiting me.

In conclusion, I have always wanted to work in the hospitality industry, and eventually I found my own preferable way to enter it. I would have never made it with my business until today without the right people at the right time. Connections are and will be very important in the hospitality industry!

For more information about Patibon’s delicious chocolates, we proudly invite you to visit www.patibon.at or shop.patibon.at.’’

MODUL University Vienna wishes Andrei continued success!