A Taste of the Caribbean in Oulu

Robbie’s Sto­ry of Rein­ven­tion and Entre­pre­neur­ship.

We recent­ly sat down with Rob­bie, a pas­sion­ate entre­pre­neur who has tak­en his love for the Caribbean to a new lev­el by open­ing a Caribbean sand­wich shop in Oulu, Fin­land. Orig­i­nal­ly from the Nether­lands, Robbie’s jour­ney to this unique ven­ture has been any­thing but con­ven­tion­al.

With a back­ground in bar­tend­ing, hos­pi­tal­i­ty, and a desire to build some­thing of his own, Robbie’s path has tak­en him from the sun­ny beach­es of Aru­ba to the snowy streets of Oulu, Fin­land. Here’s a glimpse into his inspir­ing jour­ney.

A Life of Adven­ture and Change

Robbie’s sto­ry starts in the Nether­lands, but it was when he was 18 years old that his life took a sig­nif­i­cant turn. He decid­ed to move to the Caribbean, specif­i­cal­ly to Aru­ba, seek­ing adven­ture and a new expe­ri­ence. It was in Aru­ba that Rob­bie’s pas­sion for hos­pi­tal­i­ty tru­ly blos­somed, pro­vid­ing him with valu­able knowl­edge and insights into the indus­try.

“I learned a lot there about hos­pi­tal­i­ty,” he says, reflect­ing on those ear­ly days. The sun, the sea, and the vibrant cul­ture inspired him to think about how he could bring a taste of that lifestyle to a new place.

But the Caribbean wasn’t his final des­ti­na­tion. Rob­bie returned to the Nether­lands, where he pur­sued fur­ther stud­ies and ulti­mate­ly ven­tured into bar­tend­ing, even­tu­al­ly reach­ing a high lev­el in the field. He became a bar­tender teacher at the pres­ti­gious Euro­pean Bar­tend­ing School, which allowed him to trav­el and expe­ri­ence more of the world. “They sent me to the Caribbean again to open a new school in St. Matin,” Rob­bie shares, recount­ing his year­long adven­ture in the Caribbean once more.

Shift­ing Gears: From Bar­tend­ing to Busi­ness

After return­ing to the Nether­lands, Robbie’s life took anoth­er sig­nif­i­cant turn. He start­ed his own busi­ness, launch­ing a soda com­pa­ny. Unfor­tu­nate­ly, the pan­dem­ic arrived just as he was start­ing to build momen­tum. “Coro­na came, and I didn’t have enough expe­ri­ence to sur­vive that,” Rob­bie explains. He was forced to close the com­pa­ny but didn’t let that set­back stop him from pur­su­ing his entre­pre­neur­ial dreams. Rob­bie made anoth­er big move, this time to Fin­land. He relo­cat­ed with his part­ner and their new­born daugh­ter.

A Dream Real­ized: The Caribbean Sand­wich Shop

Amidst the chal­lenges and changes in his per­son­al life, Rob­bie real­ized he wasn’t tru­ly sat­is­fied with his work. His job was no longer ful­fill­ing, and he kept com­ing back to the dream he had always had—to start some­thing of his own. The idea of a Caribbean sand­wich shop began to take shape.

“I always had this dream to start some­thing for myself,” he says. Despite the snowy, cold weath­er of Oulu, Fin­land, Rob­bie decid­ed to bring a piece of the Caribbean to this new place he called home. His Caribbean sand­wich shop would com­bine his love for the region’s fla­vors with his entre­pre­neur­ial spir­it, all while offer­ing a taste of sun­shine to the Finnish peo­ple.

“It’s been real­ly nice to see it all come togeth­er,” Rob­bie adds, shar­ing his excite­ment for the ven­ture. What start­ed as a dream is now a real­i­ty, and Robbie’s pas­sion for both hos­pi­tal­i­ty and his Knowl­edge of the Caribbean flavour shines through in every sand­wich he cre­ates.

Mov­ing For­ward

Robbie’s jour­ney shows that no mat­ter the obsta­cles life throws your way, per­se­ver­ance and a clear vision can lead you to suc­cess. His sto­ry is a reminder that it’s nev­er too late to rein­vent your­self and fol­low your pas­sions.

As Rob­bie con­tin­ues to grow his Caribbean sand­wich shop, he remains focused on cre­at­ing some­thing tru­ly spe­cial for the com­mu­ni­ty of Oulu. Through hard work and deter­mi­na­tion, Rob­bie is liv­ing proof that with the right mind­set, dreams can come true—even in the snowiest of places.

If you’re in Oulu and crav­ing some­thing unique, make sure to vis­it Robbie’s Sand­wich Shop! Nes­tled in the heart of this vibrant city, Robbie’s shop offers an authen­tic taste of the Caribbean with every bite. Look­ing to try some­thing new, the sand­wich­es are craft­ed with fresh, high-qual­i­ty ingre­di­ents and a pas­sion for the cul­ture.

Escape the win­ter chill and treat your­self to a warm, flavour­ful meal that trans­ports you straight to the sun­ny beach­es of the Caribbean. Robbie’s wel­com­ing atmos­phere and ded­i­ca­tion to great ser­vice will make your vis­it an unfor­get­table expe­ri­ence. Don’t miss out – come and taste the Caribbean in Oulu!

Robbie´s The Sand­wich Shop: Rautatiekatu 10, Oulu, Fin­land.

IG: @robbies.hospitality

www.happyrobbies.com

Text edit­ed by: Jes­si­ca Segu­ra Polo