INSEEC Launches an MBA for the Spirits Industry: MBA News

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Renowned for its MBA program in wine marketing and management, the INSEEC group’s Bordeaux International Wine Institute (BIWI) is to now step into the spirits industry.

The MBA Spirits Marketing and Management program will launch with its first intake this fall, and a range of courses tailored for professionals within the spirits industry or those who seek a specialization in this area.

“The spirits sector has a huge potential. The worldwide turnover of the spirits industry is more than US$300 billion, almost double than that of the wine industry. Companies, while recruiting, look for candidates who know this market and the requirements of the supply chain and trade marketing perfectly well,” said Laurent Bergeruc, MSc and MBA director at INSEEC Bordeaux in a press release.

New INSEEC MBA split between Bordeaux and London

INSEEC believes both the student and the employer will benefit from its new offering, as the spirits industry needs the level of skilled management an MBA can bring. As for whether there will be enough interest in the program to make it a success, here the school can take heart from the existing popularity of the Bordeaux International Wine Institute’s marketing programs, which in 2013/14 hosted approximately 300 students from 20 different nationalities.

The Bordeaux International Wine Institute program will be based at INSEEC’s Bordeaux campus for the first four months of the program before shifting to INSEEC’s campus in London for its remainder – the change in location being a deliberate attempt to improve students’ exposure to leading expertise within the spirits industry. While in London, key players in the international spirits industry will advise students on best practice and pass on their wealth of experience – something of critical importance to a program that has industry requirements at its very core.

“This new course is designed to meet the specific expectations of the sector and will be taught entirely in English by industry professionals,” Bergeruc added.

The MBA is to encompass a wide range of courses that include the economy of the spirits industry, laws and regulations, key marketing aspects (such as brand strategy) as well as supply chain management. INSEEC also intends to initiate participants into the art of spirits tasting and production techniques, which should whet the appetites of those interested in signing up to what the school hopes will be a class with a strongly international outlook.