Chinablue in Europe

Chinablue is a consumer products start-up with a founding team intent on establishing a luxury Eurasian lifestyle brand inspired by classic Shanghai elegance and style. Chinablue began offering culinary products in the US and secured distribution through Williams-Sonoma, a specialty food outlet, and Safeway, a major grocery chain. With sales momentum building in the US, they are looking to expand into Europe and have asked Clear Day, a business development consulting company based in Paris, to assist in formulating their expansion plans.

This case has been taught in a MBA course on business development and can be used to discuss the strategic and operational elements of geographical expansion in a start-up context. A variety of expansion options are presented that vary in their resource commitments and strategic benefits to the company. Because the company wants to establish a luxury Eurasian lifestyle brand, it must also consider the consequences of growth for the development and management of its brand. To facilate this growth, the case also highlights the benefits that Chinablue has received from going beyond standard arms-length contracts to building partnerships with distributors and retailers.