MARKETING IN ENGLISH

CASE STUDY :

SAINT SYLVESTRE BREWERY

SUMMARY :

I- Beer Market in France

II- The 3 Monts beer

III- The Gavroche in France

IV- The Gavroche in Finland

I- THE BEER MARKET IN FRANCE :

I- The products :

Beers are classified by their degree of alcohol in four categories :

• non-alcohol beers : Less than 1.2° of alcohol, they represent less than 8% of the sales.

• «De Luxe» beers : Between 4° and 5° of alcohol (Kronenbourg, Stella Artois...) It represent 60% of the sales but it decrease (-2% per year)

• special beers : More than 5° of alcohol (Fisher, 1664...) it represent 18% of the sales, in slight increase (2% per year)

• «Specialty beers» : these are characteristic products of a region or a brewery which may have different degrees of alcohol (Chimay, Grimbergen, Saint Sylvestre...). This segment is growing strongly (+ 10, 5% by volume, up 11% in value in 2001) and presents real potential for development. Distinctions can be made according to the characteristics of each product (for example the color: pale ale, white, amber ...). These are distinctions that the consumer generally applies!

II- Competitors :

Two major companies share almost 3 / 4 of retail sales:

•Kronenbourg breweries with 9.9 million hl produced, nearly 50% market share
•The Sogebra (Heineken) with 5.1 million hl produced, representing 30% market share
• Brewery Stella Artois (Interbrew) occupies the 3rd position with 4% market share
• Little breweries like Saint Sylvestre making regional beers representing 10% market share.

III- The consumers :

•Beer Consumer Profile in France :
26.1% have a higher education.
63.6% are men.
24.6% are active, CSP+
50% are between 35 and 64 years
44.8% live in the Paris region or agglomeration of 100 000 + inhabitants
59.4% of the consumers are married.
More than half the population drinks beer but French aren’t big beer consumers, they drink 40L of beer in a year when