Miel Boumiza Case Study: International Marketing Strategy

This case study covers the international marketing strategy of Miel Boumiza, a Tunsian honey brand, to penetrate the French market. 

According to the National Institute of Statistics, Tunisia's honey exports are worth $52,500. This number is exponentially growing, due to several factors like the emphasis on immunity-boosting organic foods. 

Tunisian honeybees are distinguished for their hardiness and extraordinary ability to reconstruct their hives in favorable years after the drier ones and are quick to defend those hives. This race is particularly adapted to cold and dry climates. 

Currently, there are more than 16,000 beekeepers in Tunisia, with an average honey productivity of 8 kg per hive. A brand that has taken the honey industry by storm is Miel Boumiza, which began as a small family business selling local honey in 1998, transforming into one of the most successful honey brands by 2022.

The brand, managed by the marketer Hazem Boumiza, has been making an impact on the whole honey industry, as it familiarized the several mixes that be made with honey and its several health benefits. 

Having achieved such success in the Tunisian market, the brand has the potential to penetrate foreign markets and represent modern honey mixtures, highlighting Tunisian honey's high quality abroad. 

Disclaimer:

This project was conducted by:

• Roua Rejeb
• Ons Hamdene 
• Sahar Dronga
• Yasmine Jedidi

all collaborators granted The Marketing Recipe the copyright of the material below.

as part of the International Marketing Course, for both major and minor Marketing students, at Tunis Business School (TBS).

Table Of Contents

• 1. Company Introduction
• 2. SWOT Analysis
• 3. Market Selection
• 4. Market Presentation
• 5. International Product Strategy
• 6. International Price Strategy
• 7. International Distribution Strategy
• 8. International Promotion Strategy
• 9. Conclusion and Recommendations

Introduction of The Company

Miel Boumiza is a 100% natural Tunisian Honey brand. With 1,000 Honey hives distributed across the states, the company produces several categories of honey and offers Tunisian traditional sweets like Zrir. 

It has a noticeable social media presence, especially on Facebook, where the founder, Hazem Boumiza shares not only information about its products but the health benefits that come with each. 

They have outlets in the following locations:

• Azur city 
• Tunisia Mall Lac 2 mall
• Carrefour la Marsa 
• Mall of Sousse 

• Phone number:  51 618 713 – 51618542
• Email: mielboumiza@gmail.com
• Address: Kalaa kebira, Sousse, Tunisie
• Website: www.mielboumiza.com
• Nb of Employees: 16

Social media profiles:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/miel_boumiza
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/Mielboumiza 
• YouTube: Miel Boumiza عسل بوميزة 
• TikTok: -

CEO

• Name: Hazem Boumiza
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/hazem-boumiza-450a711a6

The CEO of the company, Hazem Boumiza, graduated from ISSAT Sousse, majoring in marketing.

He is the most-known figure in the company, responsible for most of the content creation. 

Hazem decided to start a honey business after some of his friends made fun of his dad’s work. He started with the basic product, honey, then developed more and more products

Certifications

Certified Natural Honey (Canada)

History

The company started with just two honey hives, in 1998, by the CEO’s father. It was only produced for the coastal region (mainly in Sousse), then extended to the rest of the states.

During its extension, it started developing new types of products (like honey mixed with dried fruits, with pollen, Zrir, …) and received several certifications for its natural honey. 

It is now one of the most well-known 100% Tunisian honey brands. 

Products Presentation

Miel Boumiza produces a range of 34 different products of 100% natural honey, classified into 7 different categories as follows: 

Pure honey:

• Aloe Vera Honey: Price 33.000DT/500g.
• Eucalyptus Honey: Price 33.000DT/500g.
• Thyme Honey: Price 36.000DT/500g.
• Mountain Honey: (Includes Honeycomb in summer seasons) Price 36.000DT/500g.
• Seder Honey: (Made of Tunisian coastal Seder) Price 38.000DT/500g.
• Forest Honey: (Mixed with Pollen Grains) Price 41.000DT/500g.

Luxurious honey:

• Wild Honey: Price 118.000DT/750g.
• Royal Honey: (not Allowed for children under 2 years old) Price 63.000DT/500g.
• Calluna Honey: Price 58.000DT/500g.
• Spices Honey: (Should not exceed 2-3 teaspoons daily) Price 53.000DT/500g.

Honey roasted nuts:

• Energy bomb: (includes dried figs, pistachio, hazelnut, walnut, almond, cashew, and Boumiza Honey) Price 45.000DT/500g.
• Honey with nuts: (includes pistachio, hazelnut, walnut, almond, cashew, and Boumiza Honey) Price 48.000DT/500g.
• Honey with Almond: (Includes Seders Honey and Almond) Price 41.000DT/500g. 
• Honey with Walnut: (Includes Seders Honey and Walnut) Price 42.000DT/500g.

Beekeeping products:

• Honeycomb: Price 28.000DT/250g.
• Pollen seeds: Price 34.000DT/25cl.
• Propolis: Price 33.000DT/30g. 
• Royal Jelly: 33.000DT

Pure Honey mixtures:

• Royal Mixture for Men: (Includes Ginseng, Palm Pollen, Pollen seeds, Royal Jelly, Lepidium Sativum, Radish seeds, Onion grains, and Boumiza Honey) Price 63.000DT/500g. 
• Royal Mixture for Women: (Includes Propolis, Nigella seeds, Royal jelly, Pollen Seeds, Palm Pollen, and Boumiza Honey) Price: 63.000DT/500g. 
• Energy mixture: (Includes dried figs, dark chocolate, pollen seeds, hazelnut, walnut, almond, cashew, and Boumiza Honey) Price 36.000DT/500g 
• Immunity mixture: (Includes Propolis, Royal jelly, Pollen seeds, and Boumiza Honey) Price: 58.000DT/500g.
• Weight Gain Mixture: (Includes Nigella grain, Hazelnut, Oat, Sesame, Flaxseed, Almond, Pollen seed, Walnut, and Boumiza Honey) Price: 36.000/500g.

Pure Honey cocktails:

• Nigella Honey: Price 44.000DT/450g.
• Ginger Honey: Price 39.000DT/450g.
• Fenugreek Honey: (Includes Fenugreek and Boumiza Honey)  23.000DT/450g.
• Honey with Flaxseed and Nuts: (Includes a mixture of Nuts, fenugreek, and Mountain Honey) 31.000DT/450g.

 

Zrir with pure honey:

• Pistacchio Zrir: (Includes pistachio, Seder Honey, without added sure or vegetable oil) Price 32.000DT/250g.
• Pine Nut Zrir: (Includes pine nut and Seder Honey, without added sure or vegetable oil) Price 38.000DT/250g.
• Hazelnut Zrir: (Includes hazelnut and Seder Honey, without added sure or vegetable oil) Price 29.000DT/400g.
• Royal Zrir:(Includes hazelnut zrir, Pine Nut Zrir, Pistacchio Zrir, and Seder Honey, without added sure or vegetable oil) Price 46.000DT/400g.

Other products: 

• Honey spoon: (Made with olive tree wood) Price 7.000DT/piece.
• kids’ Honey: Price 22.000/400g.

SWOT Analysis

1. Strengths

• Miel Boumiza has a huge social media presence, specifically on Facebook and Instagram, from where they capture most of their customers. They have an everyday growing community.                     
• It is considered a reliable brand by both its current and even potential customers.          
• Natural product                      
• The brand offers High-quality honey              
• The brand offers a huge variety of products with different uses (candles, natural skin, hair care products, health care ...)           
• It has minimalistic packaging with well-defined labels                     
• They have different selling points, which make their products accessible to people throughout the country, even those who cannot make an online purchase.                        
• Since the pandemic, people have been looking for products to strengthen their health. And that is exactly how Boumiza markets its honey-based products. 

2. Weaknesses

• Climate change and wildfires are one of the factors threatening the honey industry.  
• The risk of losing the bees: producing honey is known to be a risky production when it comes to the bees themselves as many external factors can cause the loss of a huge number.
• According to internal data from the company, there is a shortage of packaging for some products. 
• The apiculture industry faces some risks 
• Pesticides damage the quality of the honey

3. Opportunities

• The honey market is a rising market. Not only in Tunisia but all around the world. In fact, the global honey market size was estimated at USD 8.58 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach USD 9.01 billion in 2022.
• Every day, new honey applications in different industries are being made. This makes honey an extremely flexible product, that can resist market shifts and survive unexpected trends. 

4. Threats

• China is the hugest country producing honey
• The number of innovations is increasing, making it hard to catch up
• High competition: different countries are aiming to dominate the industry.
• Honey itself faces the competition of other products like maple syrup, especially in countries like Canada. 

Market Selection

The market selection started with three market options:

• France
• Algeria
• And Turkey

The initial choice of these 3 markets was based on several factors, like the internal management of the brand, as we had a meeting with them, in which we discussed which markets could be a great opportunity for them. Also, several other strategic elements were taken into consideration:

Language:

The three markets are very attractive due to the language factor. 

Algeria scored the most since we speak the same language, next France, and finally Turkey as Turkish has a lot of similarities with Arabic.

Economy (GDP):

According to the Advisor's economic predictions for 2023, Turkey has 3% GDP growth, followed by Algeria at 2.4%, and France at 1.4%. 

Bureaucracy:

According to U.S. News, France occupies the 47th spot of the least bureaucratic countries, followed by Algeria, and finally Turkey. 

Culture Similarity:

Similarly, to the language criteria, Algeria comes first when it comes to culture due to the very close geographic location it occupies and the several cultural aspects shared, followed by Turkey, and then France. 

Competition:

Turkey exports $25.7M ranking 22nd and imports $5.29M, ranking 4th. Additionally, there has been a huge increase in the demand for Turkish honey worldwide.

Algeria exports $452M annually ranking 145th globally, and imports $1.87M Ranking 58 nd.

France exports $28.8M ranking 19 nd and imports $123M ranking 5 nd

This makes the Turkish market the most competitive one, followed by the French market, and then the Algerian. 

Political Stability:

France gets the highest score for political stability given the fact that it has a global ranking of 78, with a stability index of 0.37. Followed by Turkey with a political stability index of -1.1, and Algeria with -0.88. Algeria was given a slightly lower score than Turkey because of the forecast for the following years.

Corruption:

To measure corruption, two measures were used:

1. CPI

2. Global corruption rank

Algeria had a CPI of 33 and ranks 65th for the least corrupt countries. While Turkey’s CPI is 38 and ranks 39th. France is considered the least corrupt of the three countries with a CPI of 71/100, ranking 7th worldwide. 

 

Population:

Based on population, the highest score was given to Turkey with a population of 86,521,382, followed by France at 65,273,511, and Algeria at 43,851,044.

(2020 data)

Laws and Regulations:

France and Turkey both have not very strict laws and regulations when it comes to the honey industry. On the other hand, Algeria had its activities producing goods and services open to foreign investment without having to be affiliated with a local party, despite not being a member of the WTO.

Inflation:

France has the highest score as it has the least inflation: 5.6 in September 2022, followed by Algeria at 8.7 in September 2022, and Algeria at 83.45 in October 2022.

Infrastructure:

Given the fact that transportation of honey containers will take place by track once in the target market, infrastructure is an important criterion. France takes the first place for its infrastructure quality followed by Turkey, and then Algeria.

Exchange rate:

France: Euro-US Dollar exchange rate of 1.0025.

Algeria: US Dollar-Algerian Dinar Dollar exchange rate of 1.0025 139.899

Turkey: US Dollar-Turkish Lira exchange rate of 18.49962

Weather:

Weather can have an effect on the texture of honey, and other products like royal jelly. 

Algeria had quite similar weather to ours and has the highest score followed by France, a Mediterranean country, then Turkey. 

After adding up the scores given to the three markets for each criterion, France has the highest score of 86, thus it will be the market to penetrate. 

Market Presentation

The target market for international expansion: France 

1. Culture and Language

French is the official language of France, spoken by 88% of the population. There are other languages present, but they represent a minority:

• 3% of the population speaks German dialects (in eastern provinces)
• 0.2% speak Flemish
• 1.7% speak Italian
• 0.1% speak Basque 
• Etc.

Furthermore, around 1.7% of the population speaks Arabic, the third most common minority language in the country.

The French take immense pride in their nation and government and are typically offended by any negative comments about their country.

They also hold pride in their ancestor's traditions, especially food. In fact, French food is a culture of its own, and it heavily relies on honey. 

Sweeteners started with honey, which was the world's, first sweetener. From the days of French Haute Cuisine to current French cuisine, honey has had its position. French cookbooks have more honey dishes than any other cuisine. There are dozens of honey recipes in France.

Tunisian culture shares many values with French culture such as the language, such as several dishes, work environment, company structure, education structure, etc

2. Population

France’s population is equal to 64,634,083 (2022). It is ranked as the 23rd most large population covering 0.84% of the world’s population.

Its growth rate is relatively low and it’s equal to 0.15%. 

As for the population density, it is 119 per Km2. 81.5 % of the population are living in urban areas and a medium age average of 42.3 years.

Also, we notice the big presence of the Tunisian community in France with a population of 728,094.  

3. Economy

Just like most countries, France suffered immense losses due to the pandemic, from which it is still recovering. Covid-19 measures cost the government about 110 Billion Euros (4% of its GDP). However, it is slowly recovering from such losses, with real GDP expected to grow by 2.4% in 2022 and 1.4% in 2023 after a strong rebound in 2021.

4. Bureaucracy

According to a ranking model developed by BAV Group and Professor David Reibstein from the University of Pennsylvania, France occupies the 47th rank for the least Bureaucratic countries worldwide.

Even though bureaucracy in France is relatively low, it still takes a long time to finish specific processes, and paper is still used for several processes, while others are now done online.

Digitalization is slowly lowering the level of bureaucracy in the country. 

 

5. Education

Education plays a major role in nations' behaviors, ways of thinking, and ways of acting.

According to “Best Countries Report” an annual report conducted by “US News and World Report, BAV Group, and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania” in over 78 countries,  France was Ranked the 5th for its quality of education. It also has a 99% of literacy rate among people older than 15 years.

Therefore, we are targeting a market of well-educated and cultured citizens.

6. Laws & Regulations

Although France has severe regulations when it comes to importing products, like the EU’s General Product Safety Directive (GPSD) that implies retesting and recertifying imported products to the EU’s requirements to ensure the safety of EU’s consumers or the regulations set by the World Trade Organization (WTO), in which France is a member. 

France has still considered one of the main world importers ranked 7th in the world with a $562B product import in 2022 whereas Tunisia contributes 0.68% of them with $4.82 Billion during 2021. 

In addition, France became the fifth largest honey importer in the world in 2020 after importing honey worth $123M. In France, Honey was the 536th most imported good in the same year. 

• Honey Regulations like jobbet Yasline

7. Inflation

The annual inflation rate in France rose at the fastest rate in three months to 6.2% in October 2022, compared to 5.6% in September, according to Trading Economics, a platform that offers its users accurate information about economic indicators for 196 countries based on official sources. This is the highest annual inflation rate since June 1985.

This increase can be explained by many factors such as the pandemic and Ukraine invasion. However, French inflation remains low compared to other European countries.

8. Exchange Rate

Investors dumped the dollar after weaker-than-expected US CPI data dampened hopes of faster interest-rate increases by the Federal Reserve soon, causing the euro to rise over the $1.0 level and trade around its best level since mid-August.

9. Infrastructure

The infrastructure of France rated 17th globally according to the Global Innovation Index 2022-published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)-with a total score of 59.0. The general infrastructure, which includes Logistics performance and Electricity output, ranked 21 with a total score of 52.4.

 

10. Political Stability

Since the parliamentary elections of 2022, France started facing a huge problem of political instability. One of the major consequences will be on the financial market and interest rates. At this time, the biggest problem is the 120% public debt held by foreigners. If they no longer trust the credibility of France, the consequences will be very serious for business leaders and savers.

International Product Strategy

Adaptation strategy: 

• The size of the container will be 250g. This choice was based on two elements:
• French eating habits consist of low quantities
• The competitive analysis. Most of Boumiza’s direct and indirect competitors have weights ranging between 250 and 500g. 
• Due to the scarcity of glass in Tunisia, and other parts of the world, our containers will be refillable. This means customers can bring us back the jars they used before and buy a new one. Using this strategy, we will also be limiting the waste of materials. 
• The container used will remain a glass container, as research shows that plastic bottles that some honey sellers use can leach chemicals into the honey. 
• Labels will be only in French. Statistical research found that most French people prefer French products to foreign products. Adding to that, most of the non-French potential market located in the country (mainly Arabs) speak and read French.
• The same components will be kept.
• Packaging: based on the competitive analysis we performed, most of our direct competitors (eg Condado Paradanta, L'abeille diligence, Buram, …) use light colors and not much wrapping around their containers. Thus, we will limit the packaging to the brand name and the labels, without any pictorial material. 

International Price Strategy

The brand will use a cost-based pricing strategy in France. However, to be certain of how to position the product in the market, it is essential to carry out a competitive analysis.

Competitive Analysis

Predicted costs:

• Production costs:

Local product costs: 15DT (assuming a 20% profit margin) 

Packaging: 1.5 DT

Labels: 2 DT

Total cost per unit: 18.5 DT

VAT (20%)

• Distribution costs:

Shipment costs:385.28 DT

Transportation costs:120 DT

fees for export documents

• Promotion costs: 

Fairs participation costs:

Loyalty cards:24 DT

Catalog price:27 DT/unit

Facebook ads prices

International Distribution Strategy

International distribution strategy: distributors

To successfully choose distributors, we shall use two strategies:

• Fairs: to spot the most known providers and who their distributors are
• Benchmarking distributors: to select the most adequate ones

To reach the Arabic/African/Maghrebian population in France, we will select our own distributors in Paris, Lyon, Toulouse, Marseille, Avignon, and Seine-Saint-Denis.

Distributors will include sports products stores, health/natural/energetic product markets, and bioproducts stores nearby gyms.

• Incoterms: CFR (France)

International Promotion Strategy

As a new market entrant, our main mission would be to Inform customers about the existence of the Brand Boumiza and to create brand awareness to make it recognizable and more familiar to people. 

To achieve this brand awareness, we’re aiming to base our promotion as follows:   

Fairs: Participate in honey and bioproduct exhibitions in France and in European countries.

European Fairs:

• EXPO NATURA 2023 Istanbul, Turkey: Home - Exponatura Natural, Organic,         and Health Product Exhibition
• Europe’s leading sustainable business event, April 2023, London, UK: Natural & Organic Products Europe (naturalproducts.co.uk)
• French Fairs: 
• Foire O miel de Toulouse, France: Foire ô miel – APICULTEURS OCCITANIE (apiculteurs-occitanie.fr)
• Foire au miel Mimet, France: Foire aux Miels 2022 (mimetenfete.com)
• La foire de St Cyr au Mont d’Or: ATTENTION : Changement de date pour la foire de St CYR au MONT d’OR – Syndicat d'Apiculture du Rhône et Région Lyonnaise (apiculture69.fr)
• Tribune Apicole FAARA à Bourg-en-Bresse: Accueil (faara.fr)
• Foire aux miels 2022 de Lyon Croix Rousse: Foire aux miels 2022 de Lyon Croix Rousse – Syndicat d'Apiculture du Rhône et Région Lyonnaise (apiculture69.fr)

Catalogs: 

It is important to present the brand Boumiza in catalogs in hardcover and printed versions as well as online catalogs like the French Online catalog.

Catalog Bio: Catalog

Social Media

According to Statictica.com, there will be around 48 Million users of social media in 2022 in France, Which is more than half the population. 70% of them use Social media daily.

And the number of users is estimated to reach 56.62 million in 2027 as shown in the following graph: 

 

The most dominant social media platform in terms of the number of users is Facebook with 33 Million users. Followed by Youtube, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and LinkedIn respectively.

Newspapers and Magazines: 

Despite the digital era we are living in, Newspapers and magazines are still powerful among the French audience, and being present in those media would be a bonus for spreading awareness regarding the brand Boumiza. In fact, 30% of French daily read Newspapers and magazines either in printed or digital form. 

Currently, le monde is the leader in terms of reach with an average monthly print run of 150512, Le Figaro 171894, L’equipe 149782, libération 41861, Aujourd’hui En France 126804, and le Croix 84086, according to Statictica.com.  

Besides, France offers a variety of Magazines with a loyal audience that focuses on Health and bioproducts like Le Bio Magazine, espaceinfirmier, Culturesbio, Bio Monde, and Bio écologie.

Conclusion and Recommendations 

In summary, Miel Boumiza's entry into the French market will be an expansion of its success, especially since the French market is in desperate need of immunity-boosting products. 

However, they must take into consideration the actively changing market needs and the trends in the honey industry. There should be a quick response to new trends. 

Arabic-speaking communities in France value honey products more than any other culture, so it is important to take advantage of that fact and deliver the best quality to win their trust.

Boumiza should also invest in social media and other mass media to raise brand awareness in the French community.