OUR DNA
Vascobelo is above all a family story. That of Father De Roeck, a coffee aficionado like no other, who founded his company in Antwerp 30 years ago. Inspired by the success of Italian coffee and hoping to overcome it, the company was called Vascobelo: 'Vasco' for Vasco de Gama, 'Bel' for Belgium and 'O' as a tribute to the Italians. We constantly highlight our Belgian roots, especially because of what the Belgian culture represents; a combination of different streams and styles, yet also something quite unique.
CAFÉ-BRASSERIE, OR THE PLACE THAT FEELS LIKE HOME
Vascobelo strong identity and DNA are derived from our love for coffee and the belief that it is more than a beverage. In fact, we opened our first Café-Brasserie in 2015 because we realised Vascobelo was mature enough to be an experience on its own.
Accordingly, we tried to ensure that whenever you walk into any of our locations, you get exactly the experience you deserve - high-quality food and high-quality art. Indeed, it is a clean and simple world of delicacies, elegance and authenticity, vintage and antiquity with a modern twist, good music, and overall, a place that surely feels like home. There, you are able to share ideas, experiences, have a moment of peace, get to know someone better, recall old memories but also create new ones. It is a place to be. A place where you are always welcome. Some famous figures who were fundamental to our look and feel include Proust, Jules Verne and Isabel Miquel Arques, but also René Magritte, which symbolizes how we don’t take ourselves too seriously and we fancy quirkiness.
STRIVE TO BE HAPPY
Vascobelo is positive, warm, genuine. We like witty and timeless humour while embracing the absurd. We believe in authenticity and originality. And most importantly, we encourage the pursuit of imperfection.
We believe having a happy life doesn't mean denying what's negative, be it an emotion or a situation, or pretending to feel joyful all the time. Rather, it is about making the most of the good times, while doing our best to overcome the inevitable bad times. Finding beauty in the imperfect. The wabi sabi way of life.
Indeed, our values not only demonstrate what type of culture we cherish, but rather how humane we have become.
OUR LOGO
We love to explore, discover and collect the absolute best from our world, and bring it back to Belgium to share it with our friends and families, and then hope to spread it elsewhere. It is therefore no coincidence that the stork is shown in our logo. To us, this symbolises the movement of goods all over the world and distribute them to make people happy.
Besides, the bowler hat is a direct reference to Belgium’s favourite surrealist, René Magritte. It hints at the art of surrealism, which we love, and communicates timeless elegance.
A MEMORABLE VASCOBELO EXPERIENCE
Lastly, we also have strong moral and family values, and we continuously try to bring people together.
We are approachable, tactile, and never think of ourselves as untouchable. We want to be humble, like personal contact with our customers, love to hug and to be hugged.
Treating our customers as if they were our friends is one of our most important value. We greet our customers, we thank them, and we ask how we can help them. It is almost as if it were an honour to welcome them, closely fitting the values within the Japanese culture. We also treat all our customers equally. By this we mean it doesn’t matter which country they are from or which kingdom they have, all that matters is that we always mind our manners.
BRAND MISSION AND VISION
Today, we are proud of how much Vascobelo has grown. We believe this is mainly due to a strong look and feel, and a consistent way of presenting ourselves, both in terms of story and quality. Vascobelo prides itself on selling only the highest quality possible, be it a bag of coffee, furniture a lunch or an event.
But most importantly, Vascobelo has always put its people in the centre of its universe; whether it is coffee producers, employees, or consumers. Together with them, we strive to promote and apply these principles every day, and we continuously make sure they are involved in every decision made. This is the pride of using Vascobelo and jointly making it a success.
A LIFESTYLE
In the end, Vascobelo represents high-quality products, which are ought to produce a sense of well being and a certain social standing. We are a premium lifestyle brand and our strategy is to develop a very clear high-end offering. Our customers don’t necessarily want to be associated with coffee; they want to be a Vascobelo woman or a Vascobelo man. Someone that strives to be happy enjoys the good things in life and has a neck for authentic, perfectly imperfect luxury products. It’s a lifestyle.
