--- title: A Visit to Barrelproof Lab date: 2024-11-12T13:25:00+01:00 author: Nina Swaep canonical_url: "https://hetindustriegebouw.nl/en/community/news/a-visit-to-barrelproof-lab/" section: Articles --- ![A Visit to Barrelproof Lab](https://cdn.hetindustriegebouw.nl/images/articles/_1800x880_crop_center-center_90_none/2024-10-07_HIG_0159.jpg) [ Interviews ](https://hetindustriegebouw.nl/en/community/interviews/)# A Visit to Barrelproof Lab **He may appear cool, composed and calm, but master mixologist Arno van Eijmeren’s mind and hands never stop moving. Saying that drink rules his life might sound rather questionable, but in Arno’s case, it is the key to both the success of—and the pleasure he takes in—his company,** [**Barrelproof**](https://www.barrelproofcompany.com/)**. Arno says, “I’m good at thinking differently, and I enjoy encouraging others to do the same. A little crazy, but always fun!”** Arno is not only the face of Barrelproof, but also its brain and beating heart: a cocktail collective that has continually reinvented itself in Rotterdam over the past 25 years. For years, his successful *all-round* business operated like a hidden [*speakeasy*](https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speakeasy) behind its liquor store on Hoogstraat. Then Covid came and went, times changed and Barrelproof was ready for a new lease of life. Fortunately, Goudsesingel 60 became available: a beautiful ground-floor space at Het Industriegebouw. The opportunity to open the Netherlands’ first cocktail lab here proved to be exactly the step the company needed. **A new location** *Fast forward* to autumn 2024. There doesn’t appear to be a second to waste in the cocktail world when we enter Barrelproof’s brand-new *venue*. Arno is on the phone, gesturing energetically and fully immersed in organising everything. The moment he hangs up, a sense of calm washes over him. He seats us at his stainless-steel bar and asks whether we would like something nice to drink. Arno says, “Cranberry juice is always a good choice in the middle of the day. It gives you a sweet boost with a pleasantly bitter finish.” “Well,” Arno sighs contentedly, “here we are—finally, a place of our very own! You see, we act as the link between producers and consumers. Two of our *core businesses* are photography and videography, and supplying premium drinks to the hospitality and retail sectors. Until recently, we did most of our work on location, which meant we spent the majority of the week *all over the place*. We would have to drag all our equipment to the photographer or client, but those days are now behind us. This will be the place where industry professionals can come and sample the good stuff. It will also be where we teach liquor retailers and bartenders the finer points of the profession through exciting workshops. From here, we’ll help them develop great cocktails for their menus, which we can then immediately *style* and *shoot* in our studio. The space is centrally located, can be made entirely modular to suit any occasion and can always be presented professionally. In short: fan-tas-tic!” **How it started** Arno keeps saying “we”, but we only really know Arno. Who else is behind Barrelproof? Arno laughs. “You’re right—I’m the foundation. But ‘I’ quickly became ‘we’, because the workload soon became too much for one person. I started the company in 2006 after a rather amusing journey. You see, I’m highly responsive to happy people. Achieving something that makes someone happy, however small, always makes me feel good. I came from real estate, where I started in property management and dealt almost exclusively with unhappy people. You try to do everything you can for them, but you can rarely resolve everything—and that was terrible for someone with my personality. So I moved into sales, but even there, it was never quite good enough…” Arno continues: “One day in 2000—I was around twenty at the time—two friends of mine asked me, completely *at random*, to help prepare and serve a welcome drink at a club opening. Fun fact: those friends were Jim Prins and Jerome Severin, the owners of [**Contaínr Affaìrs**](https://hetindustriegebouw.nl/en/community/interviews/in-conversation-with-conta%C3%ADnr-affa%C3%ACrs/). I worked myself into the ground crushing ice that evening, but by the end of the night, I had received around 200 compliments. It was incredibly rewarding, and I was immediately hooked. I couldn’t stop thinking about cocktails and hospitality. I wanted to learn everything about them, practised relentlessly and fell asleep at night with cocktail books on my lap. I started a small company with those friends: they brought in the clients, and I developed the cocktails. I then gained experience in Amsterdam before moving to the cocktail mecca of the 2000s: London. What a time that was! After returning to the Netherlands, I became general manager of Jimmy Woo, but I still missed that pure cocktail magic. In 2006, I finally found the courage to take the leap and start my own business.” **How it’s going** When we ask what Barrelproof does, Arno explains: “We’re a company with cocktails as the common thread running through everything. Over the years, we’ve built virtually every imaginable activity around them: catering, training, our own liquor store, a retail shop, the Dr. Rotterdam speakeasy, a [restaurant](https://www.calaboose.nl/nl/), a wholesale business, a photography studio and commissioned projects. At our ‘peak’, around 25 people were involved in the company, including approximately 13 full-time employees. We needed them, too, because we organised more than 500 activities a year. Scheduling alone required two full-time employees. It was all equally enjoyable, but at some point, our team became a kind of Swiss Army knife: it had lots of different tools, but none of them worked perfectly. And if you think we gradually scaled everything back after coming to that realisation, you’d be mistaken. Covid arrived, and everything stopped overnight!” Arno takes a sip before continuing his story. “Despite how difficult that period was, in hindsight, the timing proved quite useful. Our ambition was to transform from a Swiss Army knife into a samurai sword—in other words, to do one thing exceptionally well and with elegance. I’m convinced that the key to achieving that lies in having a small core team and one central location.” He gestures around the room. “Voilà. There are now only three of us, supported by a talented young network of freelancers. Everything comes together here in a way that allows us to carry out all our core activities from one location. We’re a small team with a large family and a solid foundation, which gives us plenty of space and peace of mind. Many of the people who are part of our family have since started their own businesses within our profession, and that fills me with tremendous joy and pride. It’s wonderful to watch the community continue to grow.” **See you at HIG!** Arno continues: “Doing a hundred different things at once is great fun, but it’s also incredibly exhausting. My mind never stops, but when you think about it carefully, this new focus makes perfect sense. Brands want to tell their stories. They often present new products for the first time to private groups of industry professionals in bars and restaurants. We certainly don’t want to take business away from the hospitality sector, but against the backdrop of a bar, it’s easy to become distracted by the visual noise of the interior and all the other products. “Those locations also don’t always have suitable audiovisual equipment for presentations. We’ve solved all of that here by creating a completely neutral, modular environment equipped with everything needed to bring your brand, launch or event to life. From window displays to wall decorations and from a *test kitchen* to a studio, every part of Barrelproof can be adapted to showcase our clients in no time. “Our team is here to guide you through that process, take the work off your hands and help your brand experience flourish. We’re fully committed to that—so *see you at* HIG!” ![](https://cdn.hetindustriegebouw.nl/images/articles/_1120x630_crop_center-center_90_none/2024-10-07_HIG_0291.jpg) ![](https://cdn.hetindustriegebouw.nl/images/articles/_1120x630_crop_center-center_90_none/2024-10-07_HIG_0109.jpg) ![](https://cdn.hetindustriegebouw.nl/images/articles/_1120x630_crop_center-center_90_none/2024-10-07_HIG_0134.jpg) Fotografie door Michèle Margot [ ![](https://cdn.hetindustriegebouw.nl/images/articles/_910x600_crop_center-center_90_none/Untitled-design_2025-01-20-145751_tkod.png) #### Interviews ### Catch of the Month met Hedy van MVRDV ](https://hetindustriegebouw.nl/en/community/news/catch-of-the-month-met-hedy-van-mvrdv/) [ ![](https://cdn.hetindustriegebouw.nl/images/articles/_910x600_crop_center-center_90_none/Portret-Joline-van-den-Oever_1_Foto-Nicoline-Rodenburg.jpg) #### Interviews ### Press Pause met Joline van den Oever ](https://hetindustriegebouw.nl/en/community/news/press-pause-met-joline-van-den-oever/)