International Easy Cup: a bespoke B2B study

A modestly-sized local actor in a very competitive market, coffee, or more specifically, coffee capsules, Easy Cup is the sister organization of the master artisanal coffee roasting company, Los Primos. Based in Saint-Bonne-de-Mure, Los Primos was created in 1995 by Mr. Govertchinian, the first coffee roaster in what was then called Rhône-Alpes.

It was in 2009 that Patrice Moreau bought the family company and started on the BtoB market of hotels, cafés and restaurants. An innovative entrepreneur, Patrice Moreau seized the opportunity in 2010 of Nespresso capsules entering the public domain to develop a new concept of machines that can allow coffee roasters to encapsulate their creation.

5 years later, Easy Cup was born and has been developed by roasters determined to offer quality and easy to make coffee to their customers. A way of challenging the eponymous behemoth with its own machines and promote a local and less standardized way of consuming. Short food circuit, Made in France label, and to top it off, a low environmental impact, as the Easy Cup is biosourced and 100% biodegradable. A thumbs-up which answers the concerns of a certain category of responsible consumers who are worried about the source and quality of the products they are buying.

A real business case

Not much more was needed to intrigue Noémie Domingue, program director of the Master 1 International Business Realities and a fan of good coffee! The audacious spirit of Patrice Moreau was called upon to accept students to weigh in on the internationalization potential of the company in the form of a business case, 100% in English just like the rest of the program. And the magic was created ! History will never say whether it was with a good coffee that all that was decided, but a few weeks later, Nicolas Malartre, the head of exporting at Easy Cup, presented the business, their products, their markets and existing possibilities and challenged them to present an international development strategy for their business and their machines.
 

Concrete recommendations in just 3 weeks

Drinking in the enthusiasm, the challenge of analyzing a niche marketing, BtoBtoC, and creating real and concrete recommendations in the space of three weeks in the context of a pandemic was not an easy request. But the challenge was met : a SWOT analysis of the business, a strategy for penetrating international markets on a short, medium and long-term basis, a list of prospective priorities to consider, network heads to integrate, unmissable events…The directors were impressed by the volume of work carried out and by the quality of certain recommendations which helped create the basis of the internationalization.

We wish all the best to Easy Cup, to Los Primos and thank Patrice Moreau and Nicolas Malarte warmly for the trust and time that they gave us.

And don’t forget : drink quality, local and responsibly !

► Learn more about the companies www.easy-cup.fr and www.losprimos.fr  (in French)