Interview with Jacques DERREUMAUX

Jacques DERREUMAUX

2006 MSc in Management

Jacques Derreumaux graduated from EMLYON in 2006. He has lived in China for five years and is now launching his own business in Shanghai, selling Savon de Marseille. We invited him to share his experience with us.

I notice that you spent five years at EMLYON, from 2001 to 2006, longer than usual. Why?

Because, apart from the courses I took, I had a lot of other activities at EMLYON. I spent one year in the students’ office (association) and did 3 internships in London, Lyon, Paris and an Erasmus exchange in Munich. Before graduating from EMLYON, I even went on a six months trip around Asia in 2006.

So that’s how you discover China?

Actually, no. When I was in high school, I had the opportunity to spend two months in Beijing through an association called “Paris Pékin” and I spent the time at Beijing University. It was a really good experience and that’s how I developed my interest for China. The trip in 2006 certainly helped me to discover more.

What led to your coming to China and finally working here?

After EMLYON, I began my first job at Deminor, a consulting company in Paris. Three years later, I had become bored by the routine at work and I wished to go abroad and experience some adventure. One of my friends at EMLYON introduced me to the company La Martiniquaise which was recruiting a distributor in Hainan. That was my first job in China, and I spent one year there. In the morning I had my Chinese courses. In the evening, I visited bars in Haikou in order to introduce our products. It was a fun experience but I cannot say it’s easy for a Westerner to live in Haikou. So, in 2010, I decided to come to Shanghai. Again, through an EMLYON graduate, I found a job in the wine business selling fine wine collections as an investment to wealthy Chinese individuals.

So why did you then leave Shanghai, go to Hong Kong, and come back again?

I met a British guy who intended to establish a branch of his company, specialised in digital arts, in Hong Kong. You know the digital arts that you can see at the Fête des Lumières in Lyon, with huge pictures projected on buildings. From 2012 to 2014, I worked for this company in HK, established offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai, and built a local team of 15 employees. We carried out some big projects very successfully.

Then I had to go back to France for some personal affairs. I stayed in France for several months and finally decided to come back to Asia and launch my own business in Shanghai.

You never considered staying in France?

No. I’ve spent five years in China and I know the business environment here very well. I feel that the competitive advantages I have are much more important here. Moreover, I still have my own import & export business in Hong Kong.

So why Savon de Marseille?

Well, for several reasons. Firstly, I’ve used Marseille soap (Savon de Marseille) since I was little. We never used shampoo or bath gel at home as my mother was very wary of this kind of products. When I came to China, I could not find it and I always brought it from France. Secondly, soap is coming back. Nowadays more and more people in the world tend to abandon chemical products and use more natural and eco-friendly ones. Soap doesn’t cause any allergy problems, and it is ecological and economical. The third reason is that, outside France, the first market for Savon de Marseille is Japan. Many examples have demonstrated that products that sell well in Japan will generally be taken up just as well by the Chinese, as they have the same type of skin. Last but not least, Savon de Marseille is a beautiful, typically French product, and French products benefit from a positive image in China. It’s a pleasure to work in this sector.

Moreover, technically, not all the soap made in Marseille can be called Savon de Marseille. Savon de Marseille should have a minimum of 72% pure vegetal oil. Today in France only three producers can produce Savon de Marseille in the traditional way and we work with two of them.

You really believe in this business then. How you are going to sell the soap, mainly B to B or B to C?

Both. We’ve tested our products on some Christmas markets and received really positive responses from consumers. This encouraged us a lot. We plan to open a shop in the downtown area and we are looking for a good location. But this is more like a “showroom” for us. We’ve already begun to sell online (on our website www.72lessentiel.com), which we believe will be the main retail channel. We are also negotiating with some agents and plan to sell our products through them in some second- and third-tier cities.

Ok, I hope that we’ll very soon see your soap on the market. So will you stay in China mainly in order to develop your business or are there any other aspects that attract you?

I like the way we work here and enjoy the business environment. You can easily launch a company and move forward. People you meet here are international and interesting, there are many entrepreneurs. I like to work with Chinese people too. They are reactive. Certainly, you can hardly get anything absolutely perfect in China. There will always be some annoying points. But overall I appreciate the rhythm. In the future, I hope I can develop this business to other regions and countries in Asia.

Now a classical question: did your experience at EMLYON help you a lot?

That’s for sure. You see I got two jobs in China through the alumni of EMLYON. Moreover, I benefitted from the education at EMLYON, which was highly oriented towards entrepreneurship.

Do you have any advice for French graduates who intend to launch their business in China?

Well, come here to investigate the market by yourself. Get information on all the important issues: laws, regulations, logistics, etc. Be prepared to the very different work style here: people are reactive, but with less long-term vision. Use your network. And be patient.