Autobar Group France: local, National, European

In 2005, the Autobar Group France, a European Group that entered the French market in 2000, notched up a cool 85 million euros net in turnover. At its head is Charles Goedewaagen, a Dutch businessman and Francophile. His task was to create a French subsidiary for the Group. In the 1990s, the European Autobar Group witnessed the expansion of groups such as Renault. The demand for automatic vending machines was becoming centralised. The company therefore wanted to create global offers for all the countries where it had a presence – a growing trend.

Autobar was not present in France although it was a leader in Belgium, Spain, Holland, Ireland, and Scandinavia and was a serious challenger in England and Germany. To remedy this, Autobar began buying strongly innovative French companies that were well-established in their respective regions, since the automatic vending sector was made up exclusively of local companies. This is because it is essential to be able to travel, repair machines when they break down and supply them with fresh produce, drinks, tea and coffee. In all, Autobar acquired thirty or so companies and businesses. Enough to cover almost the entire country.

The importance of proximity
Autobar has a dual objective: to be able to respond to local needs but also to respond to the needs of key French and European accounts. To this end, a subsidiary was set up to deal with major accounts such as Total, whose motorway and expressway vending machines are provided and serviced by Autobar. To achieve its objectives, the Group has concentrated on the advantages of local service and has maintained this by keeping employees and their directors in place after a takeover. Responsiveness, awareness and a relationship of trust with the client already exist, an advantage that allows the company to be aware of local specificities: pure butter biscuits in Brittany, for example. « Today, we are the only service-provider able to provide a service that is truly local as well as national », says Charles Goedewaagen. The Group’s second advantage over the competition is that it possesses factories specialising in the manufacture of instant food preparations and in roasting coffee beans.

This allows it to produce original, new products not on offer from its competitors. Autobar, does not, however, manufacture its own machines, but has signed an exclusive contract with Necta for the IDEA machine, the only one to combine all three techniques involved in the preparation of hot drinks: from an instant preparation, from coffee beans and using the technique known as « predosage » – a plastic cup with a dose of the product already in it. This last technique allows it to stand out from the competition by offering soup with croutons, for example. Autobar is a new company that now needs to strengthen its position. Buying companies is a good move, but they must now be melded into a group. « We are keen that people entering the Group all share the same values », explains Goedewaagen. Today, he is working to create team spirit amongst his directors and to standardise practices (sales, purchasing, communication, data processing, etc.) whilst maintaining the energy and formulas that have contributed to the company’s success in the past.