The beer created by this KEDGE alumnus has been very successful in France and abroad!

Grégoire is originally from Bordeaux, where he lived until he was 19 years old. However, after obtaining his Bac ES, he decided to pursue his studies at Euromed in Marseille (before it merged with BEM). He decided to pursue the joint CESEMED Franco-British degree: 2 years in Marseille studying European Management, and 2 years in London with the university's partner school, Westminister University. He graduated with a double Bachelor's in European Management from KEDGE and Westminister University. 

He later entered a Master's programme at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia - ranked the 46th best university in the world - in order to pursue a Master's in Business, specialising in International Business. 

He started out his career as a Communications Consultant at the French headquarters of PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Neuilly. In 2008, he changed directions and moved to Shanghai, where he worked as Project Manager for Baby Welcome (a "baby box" direct marketing company, subsidiary of the Fargo Group). 

Then in 2011, he moved back to Sydney, where he worked as a Sales Representative for PNT Green Engineering (a company specialised in solar panels and LEDs) and a Fundraiser for ACF (Australian Conservation Foundation), the biggest environmental NGO in Australia.

This is when he discovered his passion for "Craft beers" and started brewing beers for him and his friends: "At first I started brewing my beer in my sisters' bathroom!" he explains.

"I had always wanted to start my own company and my university background really gave me all the tools I needed, so it didn't take me long to come up with the idea to start a brewery specialised in organic and craft beer (I am an environmental advocate)" Grégoire explains. "I decided to go for it, and went to train with a professional in a brewery in the North of France."  

Grégoire then spent a year and a half working on his project: market study, finding a warehouse, creating the company, administrative procedures (town hall, customs, organic certification, legal procedures...). He also ended up turning the warehouse he found (which was just a concrete slab) into a production and storage facility, on his own (building hot rooms...) and put in place a management procedure from A to Z (Logistics/Finances/Accounting/Stock/Production). 

Once all this was done, Grégoire started working on creating high quality and original beer recipes, as well as on his marketing strategy, communication, sales, distribution, and business his development... He even created his online store all on his own: bieredebordeaux.com! 

Today, Brasserie Burdigala makes its own 100% organic beers and bottles more than 2,000 beers per week. He even won several awards thanks to his international marketing strategy: 

• Silver Pentaward in Shanghai in 2016 (2nd most beautiful bottle in the world)
• Bronze Medal in the IPA category at the World Beer Idol in Prague in 2017

The company has been very successful and Grégoire has been able to turn his company into a SARL and hire his first employee on an open-ended contract. His objective? "Offer a wide range of quality beers, to put the spotlight back on beer - a rich, diverse, subtle, and magnificent craft product."

"I think I am among those KEDGE alumni who have really used all the skills they gained while in school since I had to manage the accounting, finances, strategy, logistics, marketing, sales, communication, website, design... for my company" Grégoire explains.  

"I often had irregular grades, but today I have founded and manage an internationally recognised company. I've hired a full-time employee and every day I wake up and tell myself I have the best job in the world. I've learned that it isn't your grades or school ranking that will make you who you are, it's your ambition, your passion to succeed, and the strength of your dreams. Yes, it's possible! Even in 2017, in a rough job market." 
 

For more information:

• https://bieredebordeaux.com/ 
• https://www.facebook.com/brasserieburdigala/ 
• https://www.instagram.com/la_burdigala/ 

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