Create a micro-brewery and a brand of craft beer 

What are the steps to create a brand of craft beer in France? How to create a micro-brewery and market your beer? What is the legislation?

In World, the average beer consumption is 30 liters per year and per capita, which places the country at the back of the European pack.
The number of breweries is estimated at 900, a sharp increase in recent years due to the explosion in the number of micro-breweries. A micro-brewery is a brewery that produces less than 1000 hall per year, or 100,000 liters.
Creating a beer brand requires mastering many parameters, including the manufacturing process, marketing via character illustration design services, sourcing (materials, container), regulations, logistics and even commercial development.
We gives you the keys to succeed in this adventure!

Producing beer: how to do it?

It is strongly recommended that you undergo adequate training to be able to produce a quality beer.
Beer is a drink produced from:
water (if possible spring water),
malt (germinated and heated barley),
hop (climbing plant),
And yeasts.
Brewing is done in three stages:
The mashing: the mixture of the crushed malt with warm water.
The brewing: this is the mixing operation which is done by increasing the temperature of the water in stages. This causes a transformation: under the effect of heat, the starch contained in the malt is transformed into sugar (scarification). It is this same sugar that will turn into alcohol during fermentation.
The hopping: it is the step to add the bitter and aromatic hops to the mixture at the time of boiling. This is an important step since it will largely determine the taste of the product.
The fermentation is to incorporate yeast liquid cooled, so that the sugar into alcohol.
Producing beer cannot be improvised and requires mastery and regularity. A professional equipment will also be needed: several stainless steel tanks, strainers, burners, mills for crushing malt for fermentation bubblers…

The characteristics of the craft beer market.

The French beer market is changing rapidly:
since 2015, beer consumption has started to rise again after more than 30 years of decline,
consumption is becoming more feminine,
The number of micro-breweries is exploding, which are most often positioned on the local, artisanal, or even organic. These micro-breweries favor distribution in short circuits.
The 4 main obstacles to the development of a new brand of beer are:
the absence of a promising concept,
too low a quality, or a lack of consistency,
an underdeveloped distribution network,
The difficulty in raising funds to develop.

The legislation for the production and sale of craft beer.

Here are the main regulations, authorizations to obtain and organizations to contact to produce beer:
Customs (there is an office in your city): file to be completed to be registered as an authorized ware housekeeper if you produce and store more than 110 liters.
DDASS (Departmental Directorate of Sanitary and Social Affairs): to contact if you use water from a private source. Water quality analyzes will have to be carried out from time to time.
Town hall: for the declaration of activity and the agreement.
License: a “small take-out license” will be required to sell and taste. Mandatory training will be required: see our article on the operating permit.
Note the existence of a specific duty on beer (tax). The amount of the tax depends on the volume of production: around € 3.70 per hectoliter and per degree of alcohol for a micro-brewery.
Finally, there are obligations to be observed regarding the labeling of products.

The stages of a micro-brewery creation project.

The main stages of a micro-brewery creation project are as follows (the order is given for information only):
Training: for example to obtain the diploma of brewery operator,
Carry out a preliminary study on the target market segment,
Imagine the range: brand name, product name, positioning,
Develop and distribute a market research questionnaire,
Check the availability of the brand name and register it Identify supplier partners (bottles, materials),
Develop a financial plan and a business plan; seek funding and mobilize any aid. Why not launch a crowdfunding operation?
Choose your accountant,
Choose a legal status,
Develop the commercial tools and the communication plan,
Create the graphic elements: labels, logo, brochures, business cards, website and SEO,
Check and comply with regulatory aspects,
Find a commercial and production room: if possible choose a room that is easily accessible for deliveries, and large enough to brew comfortably,
Buy the brewing equipment,
Create the company
with the Chamber of Trades and Crafts,
Start production and marketing,
Create barcodes,
Organize a launch event; initiate communication.

The keys to a successful craft beer business.

Adopt a very clear positioning.
It is advisable to adopt a niche positioning to get out of the game.
Be creative. Simply local positioning is not sufficient.
Choose quality water and ingredients, and put them forward.
Plan several references, and a phased launch to create the event over time.

Do not hesitate to decline the best-sellers in other products or formats,
Stop the production of products that are performing less well and that increase stocks and therefore cash flow.

Succeed in developing. For this, think of other solutions than direct sales.
Target female customers.