I have never played roulette, but my whole life is a continuous casino, - says our today's hero. - At least 10 hours a day, six days a week. This is a huge risk, but for me this is the only possible rhythm of life.
People with cold eyes live in a metropolis and annoy businessman Sergei Vykhodtsev, so he dreams of running away from them to Baikal. He is the main "parent" of the Invite instant juice popular in the early 90s, the Bystrov instant porridge and the outlandish Velle drink. This is from the known. And he also has several dozen projects on his conscience, though not so high-profile. Now he is engaged in the development of ecotourism in Lake Baikal. He believes that everything can be changed there.
Vykhodtsev asks to call himself an entrepreneur, not a businessman. Businessmen are all boring, prudent pragmatists, but he is not like that, he is a romantic: “I’ve started working on Baikal, although any businessman will tell you that this is crazy…”. Big words are confirmed by a paradoxical biography. Vykhodtsev managed to work in very different areas: from IT to the search for alternative fuels. However, he does not brag about his business exploits, but mentions them as if in passing. Lives and works mostly in St. Petersburg. He does not like Moscow, as, indeed, the city as a whole. Except for the cultural capital. In 2008, Sergey Vykhodtsev won the title of Entrepreneur of the Year in Russia according to Ernst & Young, and also won in the Innovative Business nomination. Married, father of four children.
Intuition is the main thing in business, the entrepreneur is convinced. In business, he prefers untrodden paths. " One of the Cuban revolutionaries, I think Jose Marti, once said: normal guys sleep with their mistresses, and I sleep with my ideas. Well, it’s definitely about me!”, - Vykhodtsev laughs. Without false modesty, Sergey considers himself a "breakthrough innovator". All sorts of tactical innovations - like replacing traditional ingredients with cheaper ones or fighting to increase the cooking speed of a product from five minutes to three - are not very interesting to him. It’s quite another thing to come up with something that didn’t exist before. So in life, both purpose and meaning immediately appear.
Sergei Vykhodtsev started working “for himself” while still at the institute, but this did not last long: a year later he left Russia, but he never graduated from the institute. It wasn't before. While studying at the Moscow Chemical Technology Institute, where many Africans studied, Sergey's friend from Zimbabwe invited him to visit the African continent: “Since childhood, I had a blue dream - to see Limpopo. Everything was not interesting to me then - neither Europe, nor the USA, nor New York, nor London attracted me, only Africa and Limpopo. I couldn't miss this chance!" Vykhodtsev takes 50 dollars - all the working capital of the watch business at that time - and sets off for new adventures. In Africa, Sergei managed and experienced a lot. He recalls, for example, how at first he almost died of starvation and found himself in complete informational isolation, not knowing English. The case helped. Vykhodtsev met a Hollywood film group, which at that time was filming a film about Sherlock Holmes in Africa. The action of the picture took place during the Anglo-Boer War, so people were needed for extras depicting the Boers. The retired Sergei was contracted to teach the "Boers" to march. "It was very great luck. First, I was paid about five dollars a day, which helped keep me afloat. Second, I learned English language. Finally, I met the actor Christopher Lee, who, in fact, played Sherlock Holmes.- recalls Vykhodtsev.
He even managed to be an understudy for the actor, but most importantly, he made the necessary connections. The staff of the film crew helped him get a visa to South Africa, where the young man unsuccessfully tried to get. Using new opportunities, Sergey invites his old partners from Russia, and together they organize a tourism business in Africa. In the early 90s, Africa became the center of backpacking (from the English backpack, “backpack”; “backpackers”, “backpackers” - free travelers, as a rule, with a low budget; they stay in cheap hotels, eat in cheap restaurants, use cheap means of transportation, often move from place to place and spend several months on free travel).
Vykhodtsev could have become one of them, but thanks to his entrepreneurial spirit, he turned out to be one that backpackers could not do without. For “backpackers”, who mostly move from Cairo to Cape Town, the partners became guides and organizers of the entire infrastructure of everyday life: they equipped travelers with a place to sleep, eat and rest. For four years, until 1994, Sergey and his partners served tourists on the route Mozambique-Malawi-Zambia-Zimbabwe-South Africa. At the same time, he managed to work as a sales representative of the international company Colgate, selling toothpaste emigrants from Mozambique.
Together with partners, he founded the first branding and packaging design studio in Russia, C-proproduction. People who in 1996 understood these advertising tools could be counted on the fingers. It was just right for the entrepreneur.
S. Vykhodtsev: “I have a family, children. My daughter is twenty-two and doesn't care what I do. She is my system friend, she does not like risks. And my whole life is full of risks. And I like it, it's part of my life. The main thing for me is to have enough for a decent life for my family and friends. If it turns out, then I am successful and rich. What will happen tomorrow - we'll see when we live to see tomorrow. We have launched a series of "Invite" - products fast food”and suffered a complete fiasco: the crisis of 1998 just broke out. Then no one knew what marketing and other foreign concepts are. We built everything on a whim. Some of the things I learned at Colgate. The supervisor explained to me the most simple concepts: what is "production", what is "logistics", "supply chain management" and so on. In principle, I understood how multinational works. Brand awareness was high. We have actually created a $100 million market for powdered drinks. And the one who now says that this is not so is very disingenuous. The market was created from scratch. Just as there was no market for instant cereals. In general, there were no such products!”
Every week, 80 tons of powder arrived at Pulkovo and Sheremetyevo airports, which were cleared by customs and immediately loaded onto distributors' trucks. The plant in South Africa, where "Invite" was made, thanks to the Russian order, has become the country's largest production site in terms of trade with Europe. In 1996, Invite's sales amounted to $30 million. Sergey, as they say, "made" a new market in Russia. Hundreds of foreign manufacturers of concentrates came to the country following Invite: advertisements of various brands appeared on television (for example, Zuko and Yuppi).
By mid-1998, Sergei had already said goodbye to Invite, having sold a controlling stake in the company to a Western investor, and sent the proceeds to the completion of the plant (the entire enterprise cost $ 10 million), which he wanted to use for other purposes. Entrepreneur fascinated new idea— produce instant cereals. This is how the famous brand of oatmeal "Bystrov" appeared. Vykhodtsev says that he created porridge primarily for himself: years of living on airplanes without breakfast and lunch were reflected in his digestion. At present, the Bystrov company occupies about 75% of the Russian market of instant cereals. Vykhodtsev has very ambitious plans: porridge is only breakfast, but there is also lunch and dinner!
S. Vykhodtsev: « I needed oatmeal that I could carry with me. Not a box, not a pot, not a housekeeper, but something that I could cook and eat on the go. When we appeared with Bystrov, it was an absolutely crazy idea from the point of view of any businessman and even some entrepreneurs! In a crisis, launching a product whose analogue - a box of Hercules - cost the same as one bag of our porridge, is at least strange! But the stars have developed in such a way, and our marketers still did a good job. The Russian state announced to the whole world: they say, excuse me, guys, but we will not pay anyone. It was on this wave that I launched Bystrov. I needed money to launch it, but where can I get it? I ask you: where? There is a brand, the plant is lined with credit lines, but there is no money to produce porridge. Lenders all over the world are chasing me with a net. In those days, such enterprising people were shot. They put them in the trunk and took them to the forest. We have a wonderful forest near St. Petersburg, where merchants were rolled. Every day I heard that I would sit in this trunk, they would bring me to the forest, they would shoot me if I didn’t cry. There was an opportunity to just leave - this is an option. A lot of people then simply evaporated from the radar. And I wanted to save my reputation.
When you pass through a normal free society - and in Africa I still talked with decent people, - you understand that money is a thing that comes with money: today you “hit”, tomorrow you made it. And "losing face", then you will not wash off. "Threw" in the 98th - in 2000 they will no longer talk to you. I found people who gave me money for Bystrov. I came to them and said that there is a cool project with a very large offsite, with the possibility of earning money, but I need three million dollars and restructure my debts. He asked for help and drew them the amount of income, which is very difficult to refuse. They didn't refuse. And after three months I received the money, for three years they gave me a deferment on loans, they left me alone, they let me start. And no one regretted. People got "three ways" from what I promised them. In moments like these, wings grow! I have not been in projects for more than five years: there is no goal. And the goal is to leave work happy home, and from home happy to work. That's when this sequence is lost, it turns out one big mess: I don't want to work, I don't want to go home either ...
How did Vykhodtsev manage to find investors in Hong Kong, he never confessed. The details and circumstances of that fateful deal, as a result of which Bystrov appeared, are shrouded in darkness...
The last project of Vykhodtsev - Velle - did not appear by chance. Actively developing Bystrov, the businessman already then became interested in innovations in the field of food products. He was especially interested in everything related to functional nutrition, that is, foods that not only satisfy hunger, but also bring health benefits. Velle is a product that does not exist as a separate category. "The consumer is accustomed to oatmeal, yogurt, kefir, koumiss, etc. We are now selling a product that combines the properties of oatmeal and yogurt, that is, it is somewhere in the middle. With such a project, I look 15-20 years ahead and see that we are talking about the billions of dollars of sales that we will make around the world,- our extraordinary hero ends the conversation.
“I think that deep in the soul of each of us there is a certain generator that moves us through life, gives us direction. I have always been driven in my life and, I hope, will continue to be driven by an attempt to see something that I myself have not seen before and I don’t know if anyone has seen before me - this is the direction in search of the amazing. About three years ago, quite by accident in Karelia, in an ordinary village house, I tried a certain product. At that time, it seemed to me that I knew everything about oats - I had the largest laboratory and knowledge base on oats in Russia and one of the largest in Europe. Therefore, when the village old woman brought the product and said that it was made only from oats, I could not believe it. From that moment on, this story played in my head: I liked the product, it was very useful because it contains oats and bio-sourdough, but, what is most interesting, having laboratories, doctors of sciences and academicians, I could not create it! Many of our attempts failed, and two years later I had to return to Karelia, collect samples of this bio-sourdough, and only using real Karelian technology, I was able to make Karelian Velle. So, in answer to your question, I can say that business ideas are all around us, they are part of our world.” - Sergei Vykhodtsev.
Sergey Vykhodtsev was born in 1969 in Vladikavkaz. He graduated from the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University, and also studied at Stanford University under the Executive Education program.
Sergey is a co-founder of C-Pro CJSC, which owns the Invite TM and is the founder of NPK Bystrov.
NPK "Bystrov" was established in 1998 as part of the "Si-pro" group, when the main business of the group - the production and sale of instant drink "Invite" - became unprofitable. In the same year, the plant in St. Petersburg launched the production of instant cereals under the Bystrov brand. First start company active formation a new product category for the Russian market. In the market of instant cereals, Bystrov is considered the leader. According to various sources, the share of the brand has been 70-75% for the last three years. The main competitors are the Russian company Laxstock and the Finnish concern Rasio. In 2003, the owner of the company, Sergei Vykhodtsev, negotiated the sale of the business to the Razgulyai-UkrRos group, but the deal did not take place.
The turning point for the fast food market was 2002, when growth rates in different segments fell from 50-200% to 15-20%.
Analysts stated that the market is close to saturation. Vykhodtsev, on the other hand, believed that it could potentially grow for a long time, and the main culprits for stagnation were manufacturers of snacks, noodles and instant soups, which were able to lure away some of the consumers.
At first, Bystrov tried to increase consumption through advertising and marketing campaigns, but did not succeed. For example, in 2003 the company ordered 24 hot soup and porridge vending machines in the US to be placed in business centers. It was assumed that the sales market would greatly increase if the offices began to eat porridge. But a year later the project was closed. Apparently, the idea is to buy porridge in vending machines office workers didn't inspire.
Certain hopes, oddly enough, were associated with the emergence of a major international competitor: having entered an already occupied segment, he would have to spend a lot of money on promoting his products. This could stir up the market, as it would draw consumers' attention to quick cereals.
But in 2001, PepsiCo bought the world leader in sales of ready-made breakfasts and instant cereals Quaker Oats - and not at all for the sake of cereals, but in order to get the energy drink Gatorade. PepsiCo has not yet decided whether to develop or sell a non-core business. Therefore, the market share of Quaker in Russia remains insignificant - less than 1% of the market.
In the meantime, the situation for Bystrov has worsened: today, interest in instant products is not only not growing, but even declining.
It is long past time to sell the company as planned and start an innovative business. But Vykhodtsev decided to act differently.
“We studied our dynamics and saw: sales of traditional cereals are stagnating, and the largest increase (30-50%) is shown by “phytoporridges” useful for digestion,” says Alexandra Savina, Marketing Director of Bystrov. “There are fewer and fewer connoisseurs of quick cooking. More of those who care about the usefulness of the product.”
Solution: reposition Bystrov, make the famous product fast second, and useful first. This focus on health will not only increase sales of cereals, but also enter new segments for which the image of a “fast” product is only a hindrance.
Next year the company wants to replenish the number of players in the baby food segment. For children from one to three years old, a new brand "Quick" has been developed. Interest in baby food understandable. According to Komkon, the segment of dry cereals for children is growing by about 20% annually, and the circle of leaders in it is still being formed.
Bet on Vitaven
The former slogan of Bystrov - "Full meal without much work" - emphasized the speed of preparation. It is this positioning, along with the assortment adjusted to the tastes of Russians, an aggressive promotion policy and a successful speaking name, that made Bystrov the leader of its market. Now Bystrov has a new credo: "Invest in life."
“We deliberately chose such a multifaceted slogan,” says Alexandra Savina. “It does not just give greater freedom in building communications: investment in life can be understood as investment in health, success. It became the philosophy of the company."
In October, an advertising campaign began to promote a new brand image. The commercials do not say a word about the speed of cooking - instead, "Bi-technology" is being promoted, which allows you to save " beneficial features whole grain."
Bi-technologies is only the first step on the way to brand renewal, the founder of the company has much more ambitious plans. “The number one killer in Russia is high cholesterol, which provokes the development of cardiovascular diseases,” says Sergey Vykhodtsev. “To reduce the risk by several times, you just need to consume the fiber contained in oats. It's so banal and simple that it's hard to believe."
It is planned that already in February, the word Vitaven will appear on Bystrov packs - the name of a special type of fiber that is contained in cereals grown according to innovative technology. Vykhodtsev makes the main bet on this fiber.
“In order to obtain such flakes, we tightened the input control of raw materials and invested a lot in our own research and the purchase of patents in the West,” says Sergey Vykhodtsev. The innovation budget is $5 million, about $1.5 million has now been spent.
The company's plans speak eloquently about how important Vitaven is for Bystrov. In accordance with them, next year, 80% of the assortment will be produced using the new technology, the name of fiber will appear on both instant and fast cereals, and the share of the latter in the assortment will increase from 6% to 20%. And by 2008 almost all goods will be enriched. According to the company's calculations, by this time the volume of sales will reach $35-40 million.
Bystrov's long-term plans in the innovation business are to supply oat extracts to the Russian pharmaceutical and cosmetic markets. True, this is already a maximum program, the implementation of which will begin no earlier than 2009.
Brands locomotive
As a consultant in the development of a marketing strategy, the company attracted the well-known author of the theory of 4D branding, Thomas Gad. In an interview with SF, the consultant said that in the future, Vitaven may become an independent brand (see below). Although the company itself does not confirm these plans, such an outcome is quite likely: Vitaven may take the place of the outdated Bystrov brand if the new technology is successfully brought to market.
It seems that Sergei Vykhodtsev, choosing a strategy for launching a new brand, decided to use a well-known trick - to “hook” a newcomer to an already well-known brand. With this tactic, two names are present on the package for a while, then the new one becomes more and more, and the old one becomes less and less, until it finally disappears. In a similar way, for example, the Triumph brand appeared on the Russian beer market, which at first was just an extension in the Nevsky line.
This strategy is not always successful. It is curious that just recently at Vena they decided to stop the production of Triumph after three years of “successful” promotion of the former sub-brand. There can be many reasons for failures, but of course, one of them is the fatal image legacy of a non-premium "parent" brand.
Now Sergey Vykhodtsev has started production of a new product - Velle non-dairy yogurt. The volume of investments in the project will amount to 10 million euros.
Velle will be produced at a factory in St. Petersburg, and will be distributed in Moscow, London and the United States. Estimated production volume - 150 tons per year. The new yogurt will be positioned in the premium segment and sold in supermarkets.
VELLE owns patents for the production of bio-oat products and a number of trademarks in 12 European countries: Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, Luxembourg, Finland and Spain.
75% in Welle LLC belongs to CST, and 25% - to S. Vykhodtsev.