Interview with Pierre Castel -- The man at the helm of France's wine industry

INTERVIEW with Pierre Castel.

Sums up the current preoccupations of his company, which celebrates its 60th birthday this year. The accent is on investment overseas.

Sud Ouest : Two thirds of your activities are based in France, but you now wish to develop your export business. Why?

Pierre Castel : Business is difficult in France at the moment and potentiel development now lies outside of our borders. In 2008, due to the global economic crisis, our activity will be on the decline. Wine sales to the hotel/catering business have dropped by 20%. Luckily, our merchant brands, which are important reference points for consumers, are still selling well on the French supermarket shelves. I have been in the wine and beer business for sixty years and I have always adapted to suit the market.

S.O. : Where do your priorities lie in the exportation market?

P.C. : Definitely in China and Russia. We have a small office in Shanghaï which works with five distributors. With the 10 to 20 million bottles we hope to sell there in 2009, China will become our number one export market. Hypermarkets, restaurants, bars and night clubs….all these market niches need to be developed. In Russia, the situation is different because we possess our own bottling centre just outside Moscow, which has a capacity of 300,000 bottles per day. The authorities are setting the market in order and it’s expanding. However, I do not believe India is a viable export market. I have had dealings with Indian businessmen in my activities in the African beer market and I do not intend take it any further with them….

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