#75 The growing international popularity of Luxembourgish sparkling wine | Antoine Clasen

Adrien welcomes Antoine Clasen, CEO at Bernard-Massard. Heading up the largest privately owned wine maker in Luxembourg, Antoine walks Adrien through the century-old history behind this renowned sparkling wine (known as crémant in Luxembourg) maker and how it emerged throughout the years after being completely destroyed during WW2. Known for its iconic yellow label and red foils, Bernard-Massard has carved itself a niche market outside the dominant world-renowned Champagne space thanks to intense marketing and its relentless obsession with quality. Antoine shares a myriad of anecdotes that illustrate how marketing ingenuity has allowed them to dominate key geographies over time.
With national elections coming up later this year, they dive into the delicate topic related to politics and their approach on preserving a certain level of industrial activity within the Luxembourg borders. Indeed, as listeners know from previous episodes, a fair amount of industrial players have raised their concerns about the lack of long-term vision exhibited by government and local officials alike.
Finally, Adrien enquires about the values and principles needed to run a family business like his over many generations, and what mindset is required to maintain tight control and governance over time.