All-In: The Surf Accessory Brand That’s Got You Covered

ALL-IN is Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Caste’s accessories brand conceived to deliver ultimate comfort for every stage of a surfer’s daily journey, from their changing poncho for the beach, seat covers for the car and slippers for when you return home. ‘The Sweet Transition’, is the phrase coined by JB and having cut his teeth at Rip Curl and with guidance from Rip Curl Europe’s head honcho Wilco Prins, JB’s now looking to take ALL-IN to the next level.

Please give an overview on how and why the company began?
ALL-IN was born in 2012. After an internship at Rip Curl Europe, it was hard to find a job in the surf industry, so I decided to make my own experiences and create my own brand. At the time I realised there were only black ponchos on the market and it inspired me to bring some colour and quality to the segment. My parents lent me €3000 to start up and with this I managed to grow the company step by step. I actually started working back at Rip Curl as a sales rep, which was great but in 2015 I left the company to focus 100% of my attention on ALL-IN.

Who is on the management team, and what are their backgrounds?
When you create a brand from the start and without financial support, you don’t have any other choice than to go solo. I’m the CEO of ALL-IN and I manage all parts of the business. My background is pretty simple. I started windsurfing when I was five in my hometown Martigues (near by Marseille) and started surfing when I was about 10 years old. I was 100% into Olympic windsurfing amd did a lot of competitions and trips, and then when I was about 17, I switched to waves and trips with my friends and started to do a few World Cup windsurfing events on waves. At the same time I was studying and graduated from Business school in Marseille.

When I finished my studies I had the opportunity to do an internship in Rip Curl Europe, which changed my life! Wilco Prins was my mentor at Rip Curl and I learnt – and am still learning – a lot from him. He gave me the chance to be part of the surfing industry and I think without him I would now be working in bank.

I have one head designer, five commercial agents and distributors in different counties. My wife Julia helps me a lot with decisions and keeps me motivated all the time. She has a good background in communication/marketing and it’s interesting to discuss strategy with her. We are now in 13 countries, mainly in Europe and we just entered the US market at the end of May. The USA is an exciting challenge – really hard work to set up but we found the best people to work with us there and I can’t wait to see our products on American beaches.

What is the company ethos?
ALL-IN is an accessories brand designed for comfort before and after surf sessions. Our goal is to bring this comfort to our customers with great products. We call it ‘The Sweet Transition’, which is our slogan and motto. All of our products must correspond to our criteria – to have maximum comfort during transition time.

We provide customers with products for their journey from their home to the surf spot. We provide the Poncho line for the beach, our Clean Kit to put their gear inside and we protect their boards with our Sweet Socks (board socks). When returning to your car, our Seat Cover line does what it says on the tin and finally our Iconic Slippers will be waiting for you at home.

What sets you apart from your competitors?
ALL-IN was the first brand to bring colours and quality to ponchos. We continue working hard to be different as much that we can, with our own style and designs such as the V Poncho, which is a poncho for larger shoulders

But the main difference is that ALL-IN is not only a towel brand, it’s a complete accessories brand with a strong identity and a large offering focused on comfort. We have the best prices of the market and try to keep them the same year on year.

Our main range of prices is between €49.95 – €59.95 with premium quality.

How do you support athletes and boardsports?
Thanks to my days as a pro windsurfer we’re well connected to this scene and have top riders wearing our products. I organize the French windsurfing tour, the ALL-IN Windsurfing Pro Tour. We also have ambassadors in kitesurfing and wakeboarding and we’re stoked to welcome the talented young surfer Sam Piter to the team alongside Hugo Prins and more.