Oscar's Luxury Bubbly Brew

Beer? Champagne? I's just cereal bubbles." With these words Oscar Severi, Bocconi Class of 2000 in Business Administration, formerly manager at BNP Paribas and L'Oréal in Paris, describes SoaSià, his luxury beer that costs €200 a bottle, sold only in exclusive premises. But to figure out how he got there, we need to make a leap back to the late 90s, when Oscar was in Chicago as an exchange student.

"I was invited to parties and events and, as an Italian, I was considered a wine expert and people often asked me for my opinion on wines. I felt I had to give advice, but also that I had no specific expertise." Returning to Italy, Oscar decided to refine his competence by becoming a wine sommelier and then an official taster, before deciding to devote his attention ri the market alternative to wine: beer.

"I attended various courses and, together with Franco Re, a European authority on the industry, I started thinking about a versatile product, for every special occasion, which would combine the beer tradition of the Belgian abbeys with the champenoise method to create a product that could also be enjoyed by women." This was no trivial challenge, because the beer sector is one the most traditionalist and male-oriented you can find.

That was 2011, and after a year of tinkering to refine the final recipe, OriGinalis is born, a 20-euro-a-bottle beer. The real challenge, however, was to a gain control of the luxury beer market, which is not a very crowded place. "I decide to go against all market wisdom to start a company in 2016 that makes SoaSià, a top luxury beer. This led to a long and difficult birth process to create the beer's recipe, uncover the market for it, and design its container, an elegant dark bottle with a champagne-like silhouette." Today SoaSià is sold in 5-star hotels and at Rinascente department stores. It is produced in Belgium and Italy.

But if with his leading product Oscar aims to create a new market, with another, AlaiS, he's trying to tap into a market that is already there and growing. "It's the bio/organic market, either for people who have food intolerance or for those who want a certified vegan product, which very few, if any, companies in the beer industry can actually guarantee." Now that his company, called Peel Pie, is growing and starting to get acknowledged abroad, for Oscar it's time to look for someone to accompany him in his business adventure: "I'm looking for investors, I see partners in the wine industry, but also financial investors. I believe this product has an enormous potential. "