Maxime Hosteing
Export Manager Netherlands, Germany and Ireland
Upon your arrival, what was your first impression of the B&G brand image?
It was one of the strongest French brand on the International market! Actually I have worked for 5 years for Les Grands Chais de France, and B&G was always considered as a Benchmark, especially for the varietal range. According to me B&G has a very dynamic image, with a brand name easy to identify and to pronounce all around the world.
How is that brand-image of B&G today?
Still dynamic, and modern! Now I know more about the history B&G, and I am really impressed by its longevity combined with success! There are constant markets studies from the sales and marketing teams in order to match with the consumers' expectations, which permits to fight against the competitors from all the parts of the world. I also want to highlight the excellent quality of the B&G wines, this is a real strategic point because it maintains a symbol of expertise and commitment with our consumers, whereas nowadays lots of other wine merchants prefer to reduce the quality in order to be more competitive. Moreover, I feel obliged to add some words about our B&G Food and Wine Academy at Chateau Magnol: a fabulous system allowing our customers to spend an unforgettable moment and discover the B&G Art of Living, which gives a fantastic brand-image!
Where do you see the most possibilities of development?
The traditional and mature markets. By maintaining our quality level, we can save the great image of French wines and develop an image of specialist. We can become the French reference on the markets where there are medium levels wines, there is no interest in fighting against the entry level products which don't correspond to our image.
What has been your biggest satisfaction so far?
I am very happy to join such a stable company. I was impressed when I learnt that lots of people from the team have been working there for 10, 20, 30 years! This is a symbol of serenity, which I consider very important to work efficiently. Besides, I feel in total harmony with the 3 core words of B&G that correspond to my mentality: character, knowledge, art of living. And Chateau Magnol is a really fantastic place to work!
What is your best travel souvenir?
My best travel souvenir was in Maré, a very small island of New Caledonia (I was in charge of Oceania). It was an idyllic place with amazing isolated beaches without any tourist, where you can't imagine that the local people (mainly Kanak tribes) drink wine. But the small shops of the island were full of French wines!
A favourite market?
When I was in charge of Oceania for GCF, my favourite market was New Caledonia, as people were always very interested in discovering new wines, and I was always very well received by the customers. And the island is beautiful!
But I am sure that I will enjoy my new B&G markets, especially Ireland because I love this country and its mentality.
What is your favourite B&G wine?
Thomas Barton Medoc Réserve Privée. I come from Medoc, and I have to say that this wine is a sensational surprise! It can easily be compared to most of the Classified Growths in term of quality.
After a long period of studies combined with football schools, I was graduated of a BTS Commerce International and then obtained a specialisation in International Wine Trade. I started my professional career as a sales assistant at Les Grands Chais de France on the Oceania area, and after this first experience I was offered a job of Sales Manager on the same area. I had 2 other experiences as Sales Manager, before joining the B&G team!
My passion has been football for ever (I still play in competion), but I now prefer to spend more time with my family (I have 2 daughters) and my friends.