Vendee Globe Ship Carrying Innovative Beef Products
14th December 2020
Germain Milet, Meat Market Specialist Paris, Bord Bia – The Irish Food Board
The Vendee Globe is the most famous sailing event in France, it takes place every 4 years and is a round the world race, solo, non-stop and without assistance. Over 8 editions 167 contenders took the starts but only 89 of them managed to cross the finish line. The 9th Vendée Globe has left Les Sables d'Olonne on Sunday 8th November and one ship was named Charal after the consumer brand of the Group Bigard, No 1 beef processor in France.
For Bigard sponsoring an adventurous sporting event is the occasion to promote an innovation called “Charal Sport”. “Charal sport” is an innovative range of beef based, ready meals for outdoor activities. The product needs no cold storage and is designed to be warmed up in bain-marie (water bath) and eaten from its original pack, eliminating the need to carry a plate or a bowl and some recipes such as beef salad may even be eaten cold. Key messages are targeted toward sportive persons focusing on the product’s energy density, proteins richness and good nutritional balance.
Charal has been working with the skipper Julien BEYOU for 3 years on boat development. Julien is advocating intensively for Charal sport, and has also been involved in the development of the recipe. The packaging includes short report with his point of view on each products. Bigard also involves his staff for both internal and external promotion activities including ship christening and stand animation in departure area. The image of Vendee globe is also used for media communications and instore promotion activities.
At the moment the range contains 4 products, inspired by both French and world cuisine: Beef and Potato Hotpot, Beef Rice and Quinoa Salad, Beef Stew and Potatoes, Teriyaki beef and Chinese style noodles.
Jeremie BEYOU, was a contender victory, but he was unfortunate, colliding with an unidentified floating object 3 days after departure. He had to sail back to starting port and repair before leaving again, losing 10 day in the process and all hopes for final victory. No doubt that the Groupe Bigard and Jeremie BEYOU will very soon set another objective. The race boat sponsoring is fully integrated inside Charal’s broader communication strategy “Vivons fort” (live strong) built around values or strength, courage, pleasure, innovation and performances.
Effect of the campaign on Charal sport sales remains to be seen, but this ambitious partnership with a world class sport event shows that meat can despite its challenging environment can be innovative and ambitious.