Matthieu Brunet (Zéfal): growing a French family cycling business [En Roue Libre Business]

Episode in French.

Matthieu Brunet is the president of Zéfal.

After graduating from X-Telecom Paris, one of the most prestigious engineering programmes in the world, Matthieu could have looked forward to a promising career in tech or aerospace.

But in 2007, he answered the call of the family business, handed down from generation to generation for nearly 140 years.

And what was meant to be a brief stint to help the family turned into a real entrepreneurial adventure, driven by a deep passion for cycling and a clear vision for moving the brand forward in an industry undergoing major change.

19 years later, Matthieu is still at the helm of Zéfal, alongside his brother Aurélien.

Together, they carry a strong mission: bring cyclists more peace of mind, while championing local production and preserving French industrial know-how — an ambitious strategic choice in an uncertain global economic context.

In this episode, you’ll discover:
– Zéfal’s more-than-century-old history, closely linked to the evolution of the bicycle
– How the company adapted to the sector’s transformations and almost doubled its revenue in the post-Covid period
– Its industrial and commercial strategy for staying competitive while continuing to champion local production of components and products it could easily source in Asia
– The technical challenges of responsible, sustainable production of plastic parts
– The company’s concrete environmental commitments
– Matthieu’s analysis of the global economic situation and the evolution of the cycle market.
– And much more

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-Episode chapters.

Episode links:
The Challenge du Tourmagne: https://tourmagne.bike/
Nwc: https://www.thenwc.org/
La Marc Doyen: https://www.facebook.com/LaMarcDoyen/?locale=fr_FR

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Commercial collaboration