Kathinka / Floris Delée
Floris Delée got his degree in Biochemical Engineering at the Karel de Grote-Hogeschool (University Charlemagne) in Antwerp, Belgium. Floris’ brewing career spans several continents. He started working for the Alken-Maes Breweries in Waarloos, Belgium where he wrote his thesis on the design and commissioning of the pilot brewing plant in 1993.
From there he went on to the New Belgium Brewing Company in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA where he worked his way up from entry level engineer to technical director, leading the design and engineering departments. He was instrumental in the success of the brewery’s growth of more than 350.000 hl sales beer. During those 10 years New Belgium Brewing Company became famous for its innovative designs and sustainable brewing and design practices.
During his tenure at New Belgium he went back to Europe to work for the Anton Steinecker Maschinenfabrik GmbH in Freising, Germany. There he worked as project manager on projects all over The Americas, including a turnkey brewery in Belize City, Belize, Central America.
In 2002 Floris started his own engineering firm : Kathinka, brewers, process engineers & consultants, based on his unique international experience building and designing sustainable brewing and soft drinks operations. His primary goal is to pursue his never ending passion for innovative designs that form a solid balance between environmental, economic and social parameters.
Floris has a favorite quote which summarizes his design thoughts. It comes from an avid French aviator, engineer and philosopher Antoine de Saint-Exupéry :
In anything at all, perfection is finally attained, not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away.