Matt E

Well, almost 3 years later and I've done it!! We moved to Lot-et-Garonne in December 2015, concentrated on setting up our gîte and have now launched the beer business. Far from selling online, the focus has turned out to be wholesale to bars, restaurants and shops, supported by retail sales from my own shop and at night markets and other events. The project has received a very warm welcome from suppliers and potential customers and I currently stock 21 different beers from 3 breweries - Adnams, Black Sheep and Hook Norton. Take a look - http://beerbiere.fr or https://www.facebook.com/beerbiere PS - I understand Bastide Brewery in Eymet is still going strong and the quality and consistency of the beers has improved - must pay him a visit soon!

Thanks for your post - we've just had a fantastic opening day! I wonder if your friend might find it more advantageous to buy from me - my primary market is resellers. Alternatively, it may be useful to have another transport option, so her details would be appreciated. Thanks again!!

I know this is an old thread, but I'm pleased to announce that my business launches this Sunday - https://www.facebook.com/beerbiere/

Thanks for responding. Yes, now that things are moving ahead, I will certainly be appointing one, but wondered in the meantime whether anyone here had experience of such a combination. The Mairie has no objection to the business I have described, so I just have to get my licence.

I'm very excited, but also have a head full of questions, because our dream of moving to France is about to come true. To earn a living, we intend running a gîte, but I will also be starting up a wholesale/retail beer business from another part of the property. As I will be registering for VAT and Duty payments as well as the appropriate licences, I don't believe I can use the Micro- or Auto-Entrepreneur status for the beer aspect of our activities, so would have Réel tax status? Can anyone advise where the gîte business would sit? Should it simply be declared to the Mairie and Préfecture as a sideline, or would my wife maybe set up her own tax regime? I appreciate there will be differing responses and I trust it won't descend into the kind of arguments I have seen in other threads - many thanks for any advice you can offer!

You're spot on with that suggestion and I have already spoken to Steve at Le Brewery a couple of times and he's interested in my idea.

That pricing info is very interesting - I'd have a job competing with the €1,85 and could just about manage €2,80 for the occasional promotion on a 500ml bottle. I'd been basing my figures on sites like Ales in France, which typically sell at €3,45 to €3,85 plus delivery, so this is precisely the type of local knowledge i was hoping to find. More food for thought - perhaps I need to look at a different product line, but will take the earlier advice of consulting a Chambre de Commerce. Thanks everyone.

I'm appreciating the frank responses - many thanks. Don't worry, if this was to be my main research, I wouldn't have any right even considering a business. However, it does give me a flavour of the climate from people actually living there and I will take all of your comments on board. My French is pretty good - a bit rusty on the vocab at the moment from lack of use, but close to fluent when I've been immersed for a while. I'll mull it all over during my drive home on this particularly wet and murky evening and continue dreaming. Thanks again folks.

Unfortunately, I can't answer your first question, as I'm not a salesman either.  Maybe naive, but I'm trusting my enthusiasm for the product and a well-designed web site to create and sustain demand, coupled with social networking (along with a well-targeted advertising budget of course). It may sound like a lot of products from the way I described it, but it's only 8 varieties.  A couple of them could be brought in at a later stage and two are seasonal, so maybe a core range of 4.

I'll have to get the advice whilst still here in UK, as the move depends on the viability of the overall project. The wife will be reluctant to move without a concrete plan for an income over and above any gite rental activity, as should I. Meanwhile, anyone out there with insight on the potential demand?

Thanks for the input. It is indeed the taxes and social charges that will be the potential killer and as you rightly say, I need to find out what those would be in detail - any suggestions as to information sources? Heat, light and broadband will also have an impact. The actual costings for the goods including VAT, duty and freight indicate that I can make a decent margin before overheads, so I'm encouraged to put the time into finding out about the rest. My brother is in the Scottish whisky trade, but cut his teeth in Europe, so will have a fairly good grasp - enough to help me with the bureaucracy anyway. Thanks again - I'll proceed with caution!

Thanks Andy Thinking of selling online, so locality wouldn't be too important. I'm interested in demand though, so your last comment is useful.

Thanks "Betty" I'll have a search. I appreciate the beurocracy will be an issue, but I do have family with experience of the UK to EU drinks distribution scene (whisky), so advice is at hand on that side of things.

I found one similar question from back in 2011 and have asked for an update, but not sure the poster is still active, so here's my question... Our plan is to move to the Charente/Gironde area to run a gite or two. Realising that this will generate a limited income and that actual job prospects for Brits are pretty much non-existent, my plan is to import a good range of English ales to sell online, via wholesale to bars and restaurants, and/or on a market stall. The range of beers includes good standard session bitters, stronger ales, golden varieties and a stout. Would there be a demand from either expats or French nationals and what would you expect to pay for a 500ml bottle? During a trip in September, I saw Marstons Pedigree in a bar, priced at €5 - presumably retail would need to be slightly below this and carriage costs for online sales would need to be offset. I'd appreciate any feedback and look forward to hearing from you.

Hi Ellie I see you haven't posted again since asking this question. How did you get on? What is the current availability of bottled English ale in France? Cheers! Matt