Producer
Background
Verstraete is an oenophile and a juror at the Concours international de dégustation de Lyon. As of a May 2025 interview he had belonged to a wine tasting club for more than fifteen years. He describes himself as a foodie who enjoys cooking and who discovers new flavours through wine clubs and competitions.[1],[2]
Role & Contribution
Verstraete is the founder of Nivers, the Lyon-based house behind three cuvées of naturally alcohol-free tasting beverages. He created the three original recipes, built on tea fermentation, to accompany dishes served in gastronomic and bistronomic restaurants. Within the operation he concentrates on recipe development and commercialisation, while the fermentation and blending of the beverages are carried out by a fruit juice producer.[3]
The project came out of a gap Verstraete identified in gastronomy and the restaurant trade: a personal experience made him notice the absence of a table beverage suited to people who cannot or do not want to drink alcohol, and he found no satisfying non-alcoholic options in fine dining restaurants. He explains the name Nivers as a contraction of his first and last names, one he presents as expressing a desire to create a new world in the culinary arts and, in a sense, as the antithesis of intoxication.
Palate. His favourite tea is a Japanese black tea he found extraordinary. He also enjoys sencha and creamy, biscuit-like Taiwanese oolongs.[4]
Collaborations
During Nivers' early experimentation phase, Verstraete worked with a sommelier friend who tasted the prototypes with him and paired them with dishes to refine the recipes.[4]
Manon Thomas joined Verstraete as his business partner during his incubation period at Foodshaker, a step described as a milestone in structuring and accelerating the company's growth. She is a co-founder of Nivers and its Directrice Générale.