Michel Et Augustin’s U.S. Success Story
How this SMB from France in the Food Production industry made it in the U.S.A
Country Of Origin France
U.S. HQ. Brooklyn, USA
Industry Food Production
Year Founded 2004
Number Of Employees 51-200 employees
Annual revenue $2M-$3.5M
About Michel Et Augustin
Michel & Augustin is a food brand based in France. Augustin Paluel-Marmont and Michel de Rovira, two ESCP-Europe alumni, created it in 2004. While Augustin has no formal business training, Michel de Rovira attended the INSEAD Business School before starting the company. Danone, a French food-product corporation, acquired Michel et Augustin in 2016. They initially began baking and selling flavored cookies called Petits sablés ronds et bons. Since then, the company has created a complete range of premium yogurt drinks in the brand name of Vache à Boire and Lassi. In 2007, Michel & Augustin started to commercialize yogurt ice creams. By 2009, the company had established over 60 stock keeping units in different parts of France.
Us Expansion Plan
In January 2015, Michel et Augustin sent a scout to New York to carry out a market survey. The scout was Antoine Chauvel who is now the Vice President of sales in the US. His primary mission during the investigation was to replicate the company’s previous success in France, in the United States. During the survey, his biggest score turned out to be at Manhattan’s Bedford Cheese Shop. Here, in the springtime, someone from Starbucks purchased a small packet of the cookies. On one Thursday afternoon in June of that year, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz’s assistant placed a call to Michel et Augustin’s Brooklyn HQ. He requested that they send samples in time for a tasting on Monday of the following week. Mr. Shultz enjoyed the product, and that was how Michel et Augustin brand set off for the US market.
Presently, cookies produced by the Paris-based manufacturer Michel et Augustin brand are sold in all US Starbucks stores. That means they are available at 7,600 Starbucks locations across the US. It is fascinating to see the company use humor and its unique success story to lure America consumers. The American success of Michel and Augustin shows how French innovation and entrepreneurial spirit can conquer the US market. The French social media manager for Michel and Augustin’s US division, Charlotte C., has headed a social media campaign that uses humor. For instance, the brand’s tagline is “Two kooky cookies.”
According to data reported by the National Association of Food Industries, the United States is now the 7th-largest consumer of the French food product. Remarkably, French exports of foodstuffs to the United States have increased by 23 percent between 2014 and 2015. In New York, Michel et Augustin sells to Sodexo and Aramark some of the most successful brand operating many cafeterias. To expand in the US market, Michel et Augustin has done demos in the Manhattan lunchrooms of Goldman Sachs and MasterCard.
#allezhowarduncafé: The Main Hurdle to the US Expansion Plan
At first, the Starbucks CEO was reluctant to meet a delegation from Michel and Augustin to strike a partnership deal. As a countermeasure, the Paris-based team did the unthinkable. They publically invited Starbucks CEO through Twitter campaign #AllezHowardUnCafé. In English, this translates to Come for a coffee, Howard. The Starbucks CEO succumbed to pressure and decided to meet Michel and Augustin’s team. Charlotte noted that the CEO’s phone call was an incredible opportunity for the company.
As they went to the meeting, Charlotte and her assistant filmed every stage of their journey from their departure at Charles de Gaulle airport to their arrival at Starbucks headquarters in Seattle. However, not everything went on smoothly. As soon as their plane touched down, Charlotte received a reproachful phone call from the Starbucks communications department. The company demonstrated their disappointed in the Michel and Augustin’s team for confronting them in public.
Despite everything, Charlotte and her colleague were later called a few hours later on the advice f the boss’s wife. It was reported that she saw the #AllezHowardUnCafé hashtag on Twitter. After two successful test phases in June and October 2015, the cookies were first offered at 25 Starbucks locations in Manhattan. Now, all Starbucks stores now offer Michel and Augustin’s products.
Financing the US Expansion Plan
The Michel et Augustin brand has conquered the high end of the French market. In this market, the biscuits-and-cakes category posts total sales revenue of over $3 billion annually. The company anticipated hitting the record of about $50 million in revenue this year. That would be a significant amount to aid in the US expansion investment plan.
A renowned investor Paluel-Marmont had plans to invest more into the company. He noted that he had budgeted to spend $10 million for the US launch.
In 2012, the company raised 15 million euros in a round of funding led by ARTEMIS.
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