“I was a bit of a UFO”: Béziers entrepreneur Fathi Benny in Saudi Arabia with President Macron's delegation

Fathi Benny was part of the French delegation to Saudi Arabia in early December.

In early December, the president of the start-up "Le petit béret" traveled to Saudi Arabia with the delegation from MEDEF International. It was an opportunity to forge new partnerships and strengthen relations between the two countries.

“It happened very quickly, there was no real planning,”smiles Béziers entrepreneur Fathi Benny. At the beginning of December, the co-founder of “Petit Béret” was part of the Medef International delegation that accompanied the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron to Saudi Arabia.

“Very interesting to meet local partners”

“I was contacted a week before, he continues. We left on Sunday 1st and I returned on Wednesday 4th December. I was a bit of a UFO in the delegation because I was the only business leader in the agri-food sector and also in the wine sector. It was very interesting to meet local partners. In particular the various ministers. We were very well received. There is a real desire for partnership, the Saudis love France.”

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Even though he now travels a lot, Fathi Benny remembers where it all began. “We are a pure Béziers product because we come from the Innovosud nursery in Béziers,” says the start-up's president. We started our business in 2015, founding the world's first 100% alcohol-free château in the heart of the Saint-Chinian AOC. We specialize in alcohol-free wines, spirits and sparkling wines.” Nine years ago, the trained engineer launched out, alongside Dominique Laporte, France's best sommelier (in 2004, Editor's note). Since then, “Le petit Béret” has continued to grow.

“We are present in around fifty countries”

“Today, we are present in around fifty countries, he says. We work in particular with North America and South Korea is our biggest international client. We have also been distributing our products in Saudi Arabia for three years. We work with several hotels, mainly five-star ones, for everything related to gourmet catering.” This is why the Béziers company was asked to accompany the Medef International delegation to Saudi Arabia.

There, Fathi Benny was able to present the wine industry and its highly innovative project: “Today, we are considered as one of the development potentials in a sector that is in crisis because we have a process that is somewhat unique in world, he reveals. We work viticulture without alcoholic fermentation and with 0% alcohol. The fact that it is natural and that there is no dealcoholization pleases a lot.”

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