The story of us.
For more than a quarter of a century, The Belgium Company has been creating butter molds, turning out dozens of commercial shapes and an equal number of commissioned forms in the shape of company logos, corporate emblems and even sculptures of people. It is the only company in the industry that presses its butter into the molds, avoiding the standard practice of melting butter so that it can be more easily poured but with a loss of nearly 80 percent of the butter’s quality.
Today the company boasts several thousand customers in and around the United States. From Disney hotels’ Mickey Mouse and friends to ducks at The Peabody Hotel, The Belgium Company’s two and three dimensional magic has enlivened dining tables at some of the most exclusive hotels and resorts in the world.
In 1976, founders Zet and Nino Mazzaro, parents of the current owners, were desperately trying to salvage a failing business venture making espresso and authentic Belgium waffles. Long before the onset of Starbucks and a national craze for coffee houses, the Mazzaro’s business was a CD in an 8-track world.
It was then that Zet became convinced Orlando-area hotels would buy her potato croquets if Nino would use his engineering skills to invent custom-designed molds to make them in. Her first sale was a potato croquet duck for the nearby Peabody Hotel, for which the duck was its logo. Other hotels soon followed.
Unfortunately, the hot potato business had one major drawback. Demand for uniquely shaped croquets was very seasonal. They were too extravagant to use year round. Chagrined but not beaten, Zet obsessed for an answer. Arriving home around 11:30 one night from a disappointing business call, she entered her house and announced, “It’s butter!”
Nino agreed to give it a try. Not long afterward, the Peabody introduced its guests to a butter duck. With Zet’s enthusiastic imagination and Nino’s designer skills, the company widened its range of sales, began hiring employees to handle the workload and eventually outgrew its original plant. In 2001, they built a larger plant nearby.
Tragically, both Zet and Nino were killed in a traffic accident in 2007. Determined to see their parents’ dream continue to thrive, the Mazzaro’s two young sons, Gino and Nino, stepped in. Under their leadership, the company is now set to expand into new markets. The two continue to use molds designed by their father and produce magic in a world of shapes and designs.