Olivier Baudrand is a general manager and one of the owners of Vinifood, which is famous for its well-known alcohol brands and its pioneering introduction of the Beaujolais Nouveau tradition to Estonia 15 years ago.
How does a French man end up living in Estonia?
In fact I didn’t choose to come to Estonia. I was working for Mars for ten years and in 1993 their business started to develop in Russia, so they sent me there for nine-month period and when I came back to France I was supposed to be one of their experts for the Eastern European countries, so they asked me to come to Estonia to work as the Mars distributor here. And that’s what I was doing for the first six months: reorganizing the company, building the sales force and so on. So actually I did not chose to come, but I chose to stay because I realize that Estonia is in Europe and it will develop and it can be more fun to be in a country that is growing than to be in France, for example, which is more stable and so on.
How did build your own business here, and why have you chosen the Estonian market for it?
First it was food, and I was a partner with a Mars distributor, and afterward I developed a company with many other famous brands, but in 1999 I stopped that and I started with a friend of mine this alcohol business. And I decided to go on with this market because it is growing, and it is such a small country that it is easy to build your own business — you don’t need huge investment and it is of a human size.
Most of your products are above-average prices. How do you feel about the economic situation in Estonia now? How do you feel it is affecting you?
I think that because Estonia is a small country the crisis came more quickly than in any other country, so I believe that the crisis will leave Estonia more quickly also — it will pass faster for Estonia because of its small size. In my category of products I have strong brands like a Meukow for cognac or President for cheese or Taittinger for champagne and in this field we are in growth — when you have strong and known brands you can survive even in a crisis. If the brands are good, the brands are known, they are good value for money and product. And September in fact was quite good for us, even for such things as Illy coffee, for example, which is expensive. We sold much more than usual without any special promotion. I know that there are difficulties in the real estate and car businesses, but today I’m in growth.
Have the tastes of the Estonian consumer changed since you started to work on this market?
Oh yeah, it’s completely different. I think Estonians are very patriotic, so there is always preference for a product made in Estonia, but at the same time Estonian consumers are very open-minded and very curious. Today there is a big choice in the shops and they like to try [new brands]. The difficulty is to make them loyal to your brand, because they will try it one time because it is new, but the main target is for them to buy more regularly and this is the problem, but in terms of trying, they are more open-minded about trying new things, yes.
You organize the Beaujolais Nouveau event each year. Are local consumers well-informed about it, and is it successful here?
If we ask people on the streets, we will find that many people don’t know about it, but with every year it is growing into a successful operation, because for us, for example, our sales are growing and at the same time there are more and more importers of the Beaujolais Nouveau, so there is much more competition than when we just started. It is a little bit of our specialty because for 15 years we’ve organized this, and now it is quite easy in terms of the logistics — some years the Beaujolais Nouveau wine was arriving one hour before the party! Because there was a storm in the Baltic Sea, because the customs put it in the red corridor, sometimes it was awful, but now it is easier in term of the logistics and our sales are growing. What is very interesting, a couple of years ago we had to say to our client, "Okay, there will be the Beaujolais Nouveau, how much we can sell?” and now they tell us, "When do you do this Beaujolais Nouveau so we can order?” It shows how things have changed. Of course, if you ask on the street, many don’t know, but [many] appreciate it and they are loyal to this happening.
What is you favorite wine at the moment?
Now it is Villa Antinori, because this year is the 80th anniversary of Villa Antinori winery from Tuscany, and just yesterday I received specially for this anniversary six bottles of wine with the original label from 80 years ago. It is very special, so at the moment it’s my favorite drink.
Rašyti komentarą