J. A. Baczewski - History

History

In 1782 a distillery run by the Baczewski family was founded in Wybranówka, a small suburb of the city of Lwów, Poland. It is recognized as the oldest Polish distillery. In 1810 a small, local spirits factory was inherited by the founder's son, Leopold Maksymilian Baczewski, who moved the firm to another of Lwów's suburbs, Zniesienie. The suburb was soon swallowed by the fast-growing metropolis and the factory at Żółkiewska Street started to grow rapidly. The family business was one of four distilleries in Lwów, but it was remarkable for introduction of new technologies. It introduced a double rectification process only two years after Aeneas Coffey invented it. The liqueurs, rosolises and vodkas produced with this technology were much more smooth and clear than most of other brands, which gave the company large popularity, not only in the city, but also in other parts of the Austrian Empire. As a result, the company received from the imperial court the prestigious mark of Imperial Eagle. Later, the court also granted the company with the title of K.u.K. Hoflieferant, or "Purveyor to the Imperial and Royal Court".

At the end of 19th century, the firm was inherited by the founder's great grandson, Józef Adam Baczewski. A graduate of Lwów University of Technology and a specialist in spirits technology, Józef Adam refurbished and significantly expanded the factory. He also bought new production lines in France, the Netherlands and built a new refinery. He also started to export Polish spirits to other European countries, including France, United Kingdom, Italy and Germany. This started the popularity of Polish vodka abroad. Józef Adam was one of the first businessmen in Central Europe to introduce marketing on a large scale. To distinguish his vodkas and liqueurs from other brands available to Europeans, he ordered all export spirits to be sold in crystal carafe rather than bottles. With time all Baczewski's bottles were turned into carafes as well. In 1894, during the National Fair in Lwów, the carafe-shaped pavilion of J.A. Baczewski company was chosen as the most interesting exhibition - and the most visited. The marketing strategy also included advertisement in press, on leaflets and posters.

After Józef Adam's death in 1911, the firm was inherited by two of his sons, Leopold and Henryk. The former was a graduate of the Chemical Faculty of the Vienna University and took over the production while the latter was a lawyer and continued their father's active marketing strategy. They also introduced new brands, until their times sold only locally. When Poland regained her independence in 1918, the company had a well-established name and the brothers decided to stay with their father's name rather than change it to include their own name. The popularity of the spirits was so great that in many Polish books and poems of the epoch, the brand "Baczewski" was used as a synonym to "vodka."