Indrani Group

Bonds 10%

Philippe Brawermann is a seasoned entrepreneur and co-founder of the Indrani Group. After a career in large IT groups in positions of high responsibility (including within the Cisco group), Philippe set himself the challenge of creating a space that combines ecology, quality tourism and well-being, together with his wife Jessica Heynis, who co-founded the business and is in charge of strategic aspects, staff well being and marketing. They are supported by François Dekeuleneer and around thirty other people. François is the Group's operations director and, along with Philippe, the project manager of the real estate renovation.

Elise Ghaye is responsible for the wellness center and marketing, Camille Oger oversees the hotel and B2B operations. Rainer Pankert is in charge of the permacultural farm and wild production.

Jérémy Wiame is the head chef at the Elements restaurant, having honed his skills in the kitchen of the Michelin-starred Brussels restaurant Bon Bon and Le Chalet de la forêt. 

Jessica Heynis & Philippe Brawermann

Marketing / HR Coordinator & CEO

François Dekeuleneer

Group Operations Manager

Elise Ghaye

Wellness Center and Marketing Manager

Camille Oger

Hotel and B2B Manager

Jérémy Wiame

Elements restaurant chef

The tourism sector significantly contributes to global warming, accounting for an average of 8% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.

Tourism's pollution drivers are extensive, including transport, accommodations, food services, and purchases of tourist goods. Studies indicate that the major polluting factor is the travel component itself, while other factors account for 20% of the sector's greenhouse gas emissions.

Proportionally, municipalities with high tourism intensity benefit from interesting economic returns but also have significant energy and water consumption and a higher waste production. Food consumed by tourists is often produced far away and must be transported.

While there is a rise in more sustainable tourism options, their presence remains quite small when compared to traditional tourism models. Although more sustainable alternatives are emerging, the supply is still relatively small compared to traditional tourism. There are even fewer places that include local, sustainable agricultural production in their balance sheets. Local farmers, lacking processing facilities, are forced to sell far away and have their produce transported. Their margin does not exceed that of primary production.

Indrani offers local eco-tourism. By enriching the alternative tourism offer in Belgian rural areas, Indrani provides a very low-carbon eco-site for locals, businesses and foreign visitors. What's more, by promoting alternative, authentic and immersive tourism in rural areas, Indrani is helping to change touristic habits in Belgium, supporting the trend - already underway - towards reconnecting with the land. It is also helping to boost cultural, social and economic activity, particularly in rural areas.

An integrated and reasoned management is at the heart of Indrani's project to use resources sparingly while enjoying a certain level of comfort. The principle of circularity is applied in all the activities organized at the site.

The use of energy resources is regulated and monitored by smart meters. The site is heated using on-site biomass (technology from the cooperative Coopeos), with over 160 solar panels and a solar battery installed. There is an ongoing effort to minimize waste at the end of the process.

Thanks to controlled energy costs and the utilization of every aspect of an element, the operating cost of the restaurant is much lower than that of a traditional gastronomic restaurant.

The venue also offers seminar rooms for businesses. In doing so, it helps to raise general awareness among guests about reasonable energy consumption and the consumption of locally produced food in respect of living beings.

Finally, the renovation of the listed buildings housing Indrani has been done respecting their architecture and with sustainable materials, achieving a level of energy efficiency rarely seen for this type of building. 

The group derives its revenues from the horeca activities (hotel, corporate meetings, restaurant), wellness space (yoga, massage, courses) and workshops, and from the real estate renovation project intended for resale (in progress).

The group consists of 3 entities with different activities: Indrani Lodge, Indrani Food, and Indrani Earth. The first covers hotel activities (rooms & corporate activities) and wellness, accounting for 42% and 6% of the turnover in 2022, respectively. Indrani Food records the restaurant activities, representing 40% of the turnover in 2022. The restaurant offers an ultra-short supply chain as the vegetable garden is located just 150m away. Finally, Indrani Earth encompasses the eco-site's permaculture farm and represents 12% of the turnover in 2022.

Currently, the group's overall strategy is to capitalize on the various infrastructures in place to achieve profitability. In addition to having a good image, Indrani has established a robust cost structure that allows increasing revenue without proportionally increasing costs. Thanks to this approach, Indrani hopes to reach the break-even point within 4 to 5 years of operation, while a more traditional hotel could take up to 6 years.

This eco-site is a pioneer in carbon footprint reduction. It commits to long-term sustainability and aims to develop infrastructures that benefit not just itself, but a wider community as well (especially through the creation of the citizen energy cooperative GreenDyle).

This site combines comfort and ecology and is exemplary in terms of energy optimisation. It could be a source of inspiration and proof of feasibility for the renovation of many sites (including listed sites, which often have more stringent regulations) in terms of the materials and techniques used for energy, insulation, etc.

The philosophy behind Indrani's project as a whole aims to raise awareness among as many people as possible of the vital issues involved in reducing our carbon footprint. By bringing together locality, circularity, respect for the environment and human well-being in one spot, Indrani hopes to raise awareness and inspire its practices amongst visitors.