Bel: Inventing New Horizons For The Family Firm Case Solution And Analysis, HBR Case Study Solution & Analysis of Harvard Case Studies

IMD-3-2332 © 2012
Leleux, Benoit F.; Glemser, Anne-Catrin

For Antoine Fiévet, CEO of Groupe Bel, the times were, to state the least, challenging. Everything about this chance was new for Bel: It was the very first item in the business's history that was not made generally out of milk, it targeted non-traditional market sectors, brought a strong business social duty (CSR) message and was introduced through unique distribution channels. And although Bel had actually been offering cheese in Vietnam because the 1950s, it just introduced its very first Asian production center there in 2011.

Was this new item in line with Bel's most significant possession, its core brand name "La vache qui rit" ("The Laughing Cow")? How much would Bel discover from this effort, and how much would equate to other markets and items? Was GOODI the indication of things to come for Bel, the driver the firm was looking for to prod investors and workers to "believe in a different way" about the company design that had served it well for virtually 150 years? For Antoine Fiévet, CEO of Groupe Bel, the times were, to state the least, challenging. Everything about this chance was new for Bel: It was the very first item in the business's history that was not made primarily out of milk, it targeted non-traditional market sections, brought a strong business social duty (CSR) message and was released through unique distribution channels. How much would Bel find out from this effort, and how much would equate to other markets and items?

Subjects: Family business; Brand marketing; Marketing strategy

Settings: France ; Cheese ; 2011 sales USD 3.07 billion; 11,400 employees ; 2012