GingerLove is brewed by Alain Indria, the charismatic owner of Lombardia, a small eatery in Antwerp. He calls his hot and healthy drink GingerLove, and it’s on its way to becoming a world-wide star.

As I enter Lombardia on the bustling Lombardenvest, I see that I’m clearly not the first journalist to come by. The colourful walls show evidence of the many articles written on this legendary vegetarian cafe. When, back in 2006, a journalist from the Wall Street Journal strongly recommended it for its “tasty organic sandwiches and salads and delicious ginger teas and fruit smoothies”, the Lombardia-mania was set in motion.

Superstar Moby, as famous for his veganism as for his voice, found his way to Lombardia and became a fan. As a result, Indria added Moby’s favourite drink to the menu, a cocktail of spinach and apple juices. The rest of the extensive menu reads of a healthy mix of salads, sandwiches and day platters and illustrates the almost 40 years of experience in vegetarian cuisine. There’s also a remarkable lot of advertising for the Lombardia website and their social network pages, such as Facebook, Twitter and Netlog. Without the world wide web, Lombardia would never have become what it is today.

Indria is banking on that kind of success for Ginger- Love. About five years ago, he created the ginger tea by mixing a few secret ingredients. A bunch of regular customers tried the new brew and all pronounced it delicious. Not long after, the ginger tea became a much-ordered item. It soon got its own website and a page on Facebook and Twitter.

From Antwerp to Shanghai

Indria did not have to think twice when he received a general email last year from Flanders Investment and Trade asking whether he wanted to give his product a chance at Expo 2010 in Shanghai. “It turned out I was the only owner of a small company who responded to this request,” he says. “Before I knew it, I found myself amid multinationals in front of Leo Delcroix [famous Flemish businessman and Expo project manager]. I offered him the Lombardia book on the history of my restaurant, and he seemed impressed.”

In the meantime, Indria started networking and advertising his ginger tea. “I wanted to keep the production as local as possible,” he says. “To reduce the ecological footprint, we decided to freeze-dry the ingredients. That way we could transport and sell the tea as a powder, without the extra weight and cost of water.” This fit GingerLove perfectly in the sustainability philosophy of the world expo.

When Indria finally received the news that his tea would become the official drink, a nasty surprise awaited. Chinese taxes turned out to be very high, and Indria had to look for sponsors to get his product to Shanghai. Free newspaper Metro and fashion organisation Modemakers helped him out and will in return be rewarded with two new additions to the Lombardia menu: a Metro dish and a Modemakers salad.

As soon as the news on GingerLove as the “official Belgian pavilion drink” was spread, Indria was interviewed by Japanese television. That led to contacts by Japanese companies interested in his ginger drink. He even had an Indian business man on the phone who wanted to export GingerLove to all pharmacies in the United States.

Since Belgium shares its pavilion with the EU, Indria hopes his GingerLove will seduce EU markets as well. Belgium is already catching on: besides Lombardia, the drink is available in Antwerp Zoo and all Foodmaker shops. Whereas before you needed a special machine to make GingerLove, things became a lot easier with the development of the GingerLove powder. This “home version” should be released soon.

www.gingerlove.be

Sure, but what's it taste like?

Drink inventor Alain Indria compares the first sip of GingerLove with the first sip of a beer. “It gives you a bit of a kick right away…but you’re hooked before you know it.” The bright yellow drink comes with a nice layer of pastel foam and has the spicy taste of ginger combined with fruity citrus. Add hot water to the powder or cold water and ice cubes for a refreshing iced tea – or try adding white wine and serving it as an aperitif.