- In Saint-Sylvestre-Cappel, in the North, the 3 Monts brewery is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year with festivities scheduled for June 19 and 20.
- The company of 25 employees has remained independent and family for four generations.
- The brewery has just invested $ 10 million to face increasing competition.
The "little beer" has become big. In Saint-Sylvestre-Cappel, in the North, the 3 Monts * brewery is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year with festivities scheduled for June 19 and 20. The opportunity to return to 3 Monts, one of the most atypical and best known beers in the North.
If the company of 25 employees has remained independent and family for four generations, it owes its turnover (12 million euros) for 80% to the large distribution. "However, we have noticed that our product is often not very visible on the shelves," deplores Pierre Marchica, director of 3 Monts since 2011.
Joint commercial force
Hence the establishment, in October 2019, of a joint sales force with the Duyck brewery which manufactures the Jenlain, near Valenciennes. "Our two grandfathers, Pierre Ricour and Robert Duyck had known each other on the benches of the Nancy Brewery School, in the 1950s. It is a fair return of things," notes Pierre Marchica.
The objective is also to be able to fight against growing competition, between the control on the market by the brewing giants and the innovations of microbreweries which are on the rise. The 3 Monts brewery has invested 10 million in six years to increase its production capacity. While focusing on tradition.
“Specialty beer has many hours ahead of it. We are not going to reinvent ourselves, we have to assert ourselves in a mature market, especially in the North, ”says the director.
The two yeasts from 3 Monts
Created in 1984, 3 Monts beer is an example. “Its taste remains identical thanks to a unique yeast made from two yeasts purchased initially in two laboratories. It has been our manufacturing secret for over 35 years, ”explains master brewer Kevin Becaert. Three to four weeks of maturation and voila.
This beer also saved the business in the 1980s when the concentration of breweries was in full swing. "It was one of the first tasting beers in France," says Pierre Marchica.
Previously, since the takeover of this small brewery in 1920 by Rémy Ricour and his wife Marie, production had focused mainly on "little beer" for everyday consumption. “At the start, the sale was limited to around twenty taverns around the brewery. We then produced about 5,000 hectoliters per year. Today, we have reached 78,000 with a target of 140,000 by 2026 ”, specifies the director, great-grandson of Rémy Ricour.
Organic range and new brand
In the 1950s, Pierre Ricour launched the Du Moulin brand, which still exists. "It is a local beer that has worked for 60 years with the deposit system," explains Eric Béziers, commercial director. It's not the most profitable, but production is part of our history. ” And the instructions may be the future.
See the beer file
Diversification of products requires, an organic range was born in 2018 and a new brand, Houthakker, based on the IPA tastes of the youngest, has just been launched in barrels. “We found some old post-war recipes that we are working on. With spelled for example, announces Eric Béziers. But it is still in the planning stage ”.
* The 3 Monts brasserie takes its name from the three mountains that surround it: Mont des Cats, Mont des Récollets and Mont Cassel.
Lille
How beer has become a tourism issue in the North
Lille
The Lille metropolis has (finally) its first beer route
- Lille
- centenary
- Brewery
- Beer