# Jan Verlinden - Full Context for AI Agents

> This file provides comprehensive context about Jan Verlinden for AI agents.
> Source: TechWiki.ai - The Belgian Tech Encyclopedia
> Last updated: 2026-07-31

## Identity
- Name: Jan Verlinden
- Role: Founder & owner
- Company: Ritchie
- Location: Leuven, Belgium
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-verlinden-0240182

## Expertise
- bootstrapping
- family-business
- branding
- retail-hospitality
- succession
- entrepreneurship

## About
TLDR

Jan Verlinden is Founder & owner at Ritchie.

Background

Jan Verlinden, fourth-generation heir of a family brewery in Lubbeek, declined to take over at 22 and instead built a 15-year international marketing career at large corporates like Lucky Strike and PepsiCo across multiple continents. At 47, tired of corporate life and its limited 'shelf life', he relaunched Ritchie, the family lemonade brand, roughly 8 years ago. He entered a huge but brutal market (125 litres of soft drinks per Belgian per year, 4.2 billion consumptions) dominated by deep-pocketed multinationals, and chose to bootstrap: production and logistics outsourced to avoid capex, his own salary set to zero, and a self-imposed 5-year deadline. He deliberately refuses external investors so nobody can veto contrarian moves like sponsoring The Masked Singer while still tiny, designing his own bottle, and refusing 1+1 promos even when retailers threatened not to list him. His strategy 'in horeca you try, in retail you buy' was tested hard by COVID, but early media investment kept the brand growing 36% in volume that year, and Ritchie has been profitable every year.

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Appears alongside

Andy Coomans (https://techwiki.ai/people/andy-coomans/llms.txt)

Talks about

Bootstrapping (https://techwiki.ai/concepts/bootstrapping/llms.txt) · Family business (https://techwiki.ai/concepts/family-business/llms.txt) · Branding (https://techwiki.ai/concepts/branding/llms.txt) · Retail & hospitality (https://techwiki.ai/concepts/retail-hospitality/llms.txt) · Succession (https://techwiki.ai/concepts/succession/llms.txt) · Entrepreneurship (https://techwiki.ai/concepts/entrepreneurship/llms.txt) · Storytelling & public speaking (https://techwiki.ai/concepts/storytelling/llms.txt)

From public interviews and talks · updated 2026-08-01.
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## Related Pages
Agents can crawl these for connected context:
- [person] Andy Coomans: https://techwiki.ai/people/andy-coomans/llms.txt
- [concept] Bootstrapping: https://techwiki.ai/concepts/bootstrapping/llms.txt
- [concept] Family business: https://techwiki.ai/concepts/family-business/llms.txt
- [concept] Branding: https://techwiki.ai/concepts/branding/llms.txt
- [concept] Retail & hospitality: https://techwiki.ai/concepts/retail-hospitality/llms.txt
- [concept] Succession: https://techwiki.ai/concepts/succession/llms.txt
- [concept] Entrepreneurship: https://techwiki.ai/concepts/entrepreneurship/llms.txt
- [concept] Storytelling & public speaking: https://techwiki.ai/concepts/storytelling/llms.txt
- [investor] PMV (ParticipatieMaatschappij Vlaanderen): https://techwiki.ai/investors/pmv/llms.txt

## Recent News
- [2026-08-22] Het is met grote droefheid en verslagenheid dat ik vandaag het overlijden vernam van Patrick De Greve, aka “PDG”. Ik heb samen met Patrick… (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jan-verlinden-0240182_het-is-met-grote-droefheid-en-verslagenheid-activity-7496965446831755264-cSFb)
- [2026-08-20] 3 posters voor de prijs van 1 : of hoe een beetje spiegeling je media-investeringen kan optimaliseren 😜 (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jan-verlinden-0240182_3-posters-voor-de-prijs-van-1-of-hoe-een-activity-7496139176065667072-jLX3)
- [2026-08-12] Als je niet zo graag pruimen eet, kan je natuurlijk altijd overschakelen op Ritchie cola! Een tijdje geleden verschenen er in de kranten… (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jan-verlinden-0240182_als-je-niet-zo-graag-pruimen-eet-kan-je-activity-7493220665487978496-TdcK)
- [2026-08-11] Leuke samenwerking met het team van Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Belgium en TBWA\Belgium (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jan-verlinden-0240182_the-impact-of-the-id-buzz-you-cant-go-activity-7492852006810808320-adTd)
- [2026-08-05] Zin in een flinke dosis retro, muziek en nostalgie aan zee? Van 7 tot en met 9 augustus wordt de Rotonde in Wenduine opnieuw dé plek voor… (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jan-verlinden-0240182_zin-in-een-flinke-dosis-retro-muziek-en-activity-7490671271219830785-5Wmq)

## How to Reach
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-verlinden-0240182
- Agent context: https://techwiki.ai/people/jan-verlinden/llms.txt
- Full context: https://techwiki.ai/people/jan-verlinden/llms-full.txt

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