Master Thesis Master’S Program in Strategic Entrepreneurship for International Growth, 120 Credits
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Master Thesis Master’s Program in Strategic Entrepreneurship for International Growth, 120 Credits How specialist firms sustain on a niche in a concentrated industry. A case-study of Belgian Craft-Breweries. Business Administration, 30 credits Halmstad 2019-05-20 Sébastien Dessaucy & Daniel Steinwandter Wippel HALMSTAD UNIVERSITY ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors would first like to express our sincere gratitude to their supervisor for this master thesis, Professor Dr. Svante Andersson for his insights and feedback that helped the authors to achieve their best throughout the process of this work. Then, the authors are grateful for Halmstad University that gave us the opportunity to challenge themselves while completing their Master study. The authors would also like to thank all their families and friends for the patience and comprehension, which gave the authors the inducement needed to accomplish this entire Masters. The authors are foremost grateful for the Breweries that kindly opened their doors to strangers and gave all the information needed to reach the expectations around this thesis. The authors sincerely wish them the best for the following years to come. Halmstad, May 2019 Sébastien Dessaucy & Daniel Steinwandter Wippel List of Abbreviations ABV: Alcohol by volume BENELUX: Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg BENEFRALUX: Belgium, Netherlands, France, Luxembourg ROI: Return on investment USP: Unique selling proposition WoM: Word of mouth Table of Figure, Table and Appendices: Fig 1: Per capita beer consumption, 1970–2015……………………………………………..24 Fig. 2: The evolution of the export and consumption of beers in Belgium………………...26 Fig. 3: Tits Glass and Bottle…………………………………………………………………28 Fig. 4: Bottle and Glass of La Corne…………………..……………………………………31 Fig. 5: Logo of Sainte-Nitouche………………………………………………………….....38 Table 1: The differences between traditional and entrepreneurial marketing…………...17 Table 2: Descriptive information………………………………………………………..20 Table 3: Types of evidences……………………………………………………………..22 Table 4: Beer consumption by type in Belgium, 1947–2000 (% of total)…………….25 Appendix 1: Questionnaire……………………………………………………………………..74 TABLE OF CONTENT 1 – INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 2 1.1 – RESEARCH GAP & PURPOSE ........................................................................................................... 4 2 – LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................................................... 5 2.1 – MARKET SEGMENTATION ...................................................................................................................... 5 2.1.1 – Industry Segmentation ..................................................................................................................... 6 2.3 – RESOURCE PARTITIONING ..................................................................................................................... 7 2.3.1 – Generalists....................................................................................................................................... 8 2.3.2 – Specialists ........................................................................................................................................ 9 2.3.3 – The Craft Beer Revolution ............................................................................................................. 10 2.4 – NICHE MARKETING .............................................................................................................................. 14 2.5 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP ............................................................................................................................ 16 2.5.1 – Entrepreneurial Marketing ............................................................................................................ 17 2.6 – BRANDING ............................................................................................................................................. 17 3 – METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................................... 19 3.1 – RESEARCH CONDUCT ........................................................................................................................... 19 3.2 – DATA COLLECTION .............................................................................................................................. 20 3.3 – METHOD DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................................... 21 4 – EMPIRICAL DATA ............................................................................................................................ 22 4.1 – ABOUT THE BELGIAN BEER INDUSTRY ................................................................................................ 23 4.1.1 – The market consolidation in Belgium ............................................................................................ 23 4.1.2 – The Belgian Craft Beer Movement ................................................................................................ 24 4.1.3 – The Belgian Beer Market Nowadays ............................................................................................. 25 4.2 – CASES DESCRIPTION ............................................................................................................................ 28 4.2.1 – Tits brewery ................................................................................................................................... 28 4.2.2 – Ebly Brewery ................................................................................................................................. 30 4.2.3 – Oster Brewery ................................................................................................................................ 33 4.2.4 – Vapeur Brewery ............................................................................................................................. 35 4.2.5 – La Croix Brewery .......................................................................................................................... 37 5 – ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................................................... 40 5.1 – BRANDING ............................................................................................................................................. 40 5.2 – CONSUMER ........................................................................................................................................... 43 5.3 – COOPETITION ....................................................................................................................................... 43 5.4 – DISTRIBUTION AND SALES .................................................................................................................... 44 5.5 – EXPERIENCE/ ENTREPRENEURSHIP ..................................................................................................... 46 5.6 – PRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 47 5.7 –PROMOTION........................................................................................................................................... 49 5.8 – PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE ........................................................................................................................... 51 5.9 – SUPPLIER .............................................................................................................................................. 53 6 – DISCUSSION ....................................................................................................................................... 54 7 – CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................... 55 8 – FURTHER RESEARCH AND LIMITATIONS ................................................................................. 57 9 – REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................................... 59 10 – APPENDIX ......................................................................................................................................... 74 ABSTRACT Paper type - Master Thesis in Business Administration, 30 credits Supervisor - Dr. Svante Andersson Purpose – The purpose of this thesis is to understand how specialist firms develop in a concentrated industry by analyzing how microbreweries develop and operate on the Belgian market. Then, the literature reviewed used to build the theoretical foundation of this work is centered around the Resource Partitioning Theory and Niche Marketing Theory to explain this phenomenon. Design/methodology/approach – A cross-case analysis was undertaken. Five Belgian Microbreweries were examined. The data were gathered through interviews conducted with owners of microbreweries based on a structured questionnaire, as well as through secondary data. In addition, an analysis of the Belgian beer industry was conducted, using as secondary data, such as the existing literature on the beer industry, as well annual reports from Beers Associations. Findings – In opposition