St Pierre Groupe celebrates intercontinental strategy with record-breaking sales
Paul Baker, founder of St Pierre Groupe, said the success on the other side of the Atlantic has also led to extraordinary growth for the wider group, which has doubled in size in the past two years.
The company – which was granted the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade in 2019 – is firmly on track to hit its target to achieve £150m in sales by 2022, clocking up more than £100m in turnover in 2020.
“We dream big and we chase our goals. There’s real momentum for all three of our brands at the moment – globally St Pierre is up 46%, Baker Street 30% and Paul Hollywood 67%. We exceeded £100 million turnover in 2020 for the first time, which puts us on track to hit our £150mn target by 2022,” said Baker.
The St Pierre brand – which was launched in the US six years ago – recently won a listing in Costco in the US, with St Pierre’s Brioche Burger Buns and Brioche Hot Dog Rolls rolling out in 57 of Costco’s Northern California stores in a larger twin pack format.
Doing something right
The brand attributes its US success in part to its novel approach to merchandising. The eye-catching tactic in using Eiffel Tower stands is also being rolled out in Ireland, the UK and the Middle East in a bid to emulate similar success.
“We are capitalising on the momentum we have worked so hard to build and really increasing our marketing efforts in all territories,” added Baker.
“When we started out in export in 2012, we could have never imagined the success we’ve achieved. Now the pressure is on to maintain it. The opportunity is there and we’re making key hires to help drive the US branded proposition. Our recruitment drive is already paying dividends, with new listings being secured each month – including our Costco win.
“We’re a Manchester business taking French products to America – it might not sound like a recipe for success, but we’re definitely doing something right.”
This year promises to be another busy year for the brand, which has also secured listings in new territories, including Mexico, Korea and the Dominican Republic. Plans are also underway to trial products in Panama, with new instore marketing plans for the Middle East to help deepen distribution.
The company is not resting on its laurels and Baker realises how fortunate it is to be doing to so well in these unprecedented times.
“As such, we have also doubled-down on our efforts to support the wider industry and local initiatives throughout the pandemic. Since March (2020), we have donated over $1mn worth of product to charitable causes, globally,” he said.
