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Family firms and the saucy business of condiment making

August 8, 2013

Many of the world's condiment makers are family businesses. CampdenFB looks at some of the best-known ones.

Many of the world's condiment makers are family businesses. CampdenFB looks at some of the best-known ones.

Kikkoman
Soy sauce
Noda, Japan

Egalitarian Entrepreneur

August 8, 2013

Hugo Mulliez is the third-gen of one of France’s most successful family businesses, Auchan. He is now on a mission to democratise the elitist world of contemporary art with Artsper, a new online marketplace.

With Artsper we form partnerships with galleries across France and we are starting to develop into Europe. We ask them to get involved in Artsper [an online marketplace where galleries can display artworks for sale from their exhibitions], and after creating their account they can manage it by themselves. We do not have our own artists or artworks, so we don’t have any stock or delivery issues, we are just an intermediary between galleries, buyers and art amateurs.

Core business: Meet the Chevallier Guild brothers behind Aspall cider

August 1, 2013

The eighth generation brothers who run Aspall Cyder see their product as a rival to champagne. CampdenFB speaks to them about the black art of cider-making and taking advice from maharajahs.

The sky's the limit

February 14, 2013

Fifth-generation Johan Andresen runs one of Norway's oldest family businesses. He's transformed the company and isn't quite ready to step down.

At the headquarters of Ferd, the billion-euro Norwegian conglomerate, even the chairman orders taxis for visitors. Johan Andresen doesn’t ask his PA to do it nor the receptionist; he simply goes downstairs and, using a tablet computer, does it himself. A taxi promptly turns up.

Long-distance running

November 8, 2012

Nakumatt is a Kenya-based family-run retailer. It wants to be the Walmart of Africa. CampdenFB speaks to Atul Shah about the family’s ambitions – and his Olympic plans.

Atul Shah, the chief executive of east African retailer Nakumatt, is in the middle of an animated discussion with Olympic medallist Paul Tergat. Over a pot of English breakfast tea, Shah is telling his fellow Kenyan – who held the world marathon record between 2003 and 2007 – that they’ve got a lot of work to do. There are many people to speak to, to get on board, says Shah, if his vision is to be realised.

Change management

November 5, 2012

Businesses often throw up next-gen entrepreneurs. Few throw up next-gen entrepreneurs and social pioneers. CampdenFB reports.

Wanderlust can rarely have made such a profound change on a business as the 19-year-old Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen’s desire to travel to Africa. The scion of a Danish business that made linings for uniforms, he set off to Nigeria and ended up transforming the family firm into a producer of insecticidal tents and the innovator behind a pioneering public health programme in Kenya.

From wine to wind

October 18, 2012

The Argentinian empire founded by an accidental immigrant is an international player, thanks to its charismatic patriarch. CampdenFB speaks to the man behind one of the fastest growing family businesses in the world.

Enrique Pescarmona is a man who likes numbers. So much so that when asked what he thinks of people who are sceptical of wind farms and hydro power, the head of Argentinian energy business Impsa quickly asks for the loan of a pen and paper and begins scribbling down a series of figures. “It is easy to talk, but most people don’t like to put numbers to things,” he says. “But you cannot fool with numbers.”

Fashion rules

July 12, 2012

Ferragamo is one of the world’s most iconic fashion brands. It’s also one of Italy’s greatest family businesses. CampdenFB speaks to Ferruccio Ferragamo about the family, the business and the luxury market.

Never give up: Lessons Marilyn Carlson Nelson’s father taught her

May 24, 2012

If there has ever been a story of perseverance and determination in a family business then it must be that of Marilyn Carlson Nelson. CampdenFB reports on a remarkable story.

Priority next-gen

May 22, 2012

A US family-owned conglomerate has made next-generation planning core to its governance. CampdenFB looks at its strategy.

Bill Yoh, the third-generation family member of American defence and engineering family business Day & Zimmermann, isn’t about to become a number any time soon. “We don’t want to contribute to statistics about families that, at some point, decided to sell the business or remained distant from it,” he says.