Grupo Carrefour Brasil: Entrevista com o CEO, Stephane Maquaire

My guest today, for example, was born in France and never imagined leaving the country. He also studied engineering and wanted to pursue a career in the field, but Stéphane Maquaire ended up entering retail and came to Brazil. He is the CEO of Carrefour Brazil, a group that has been here for almost 50 years, with nearly 1,200 points of sale, more than 130,000 employees, and in 2023 had gross revenue of over 11 billion reais. I am Maria Amo, and this is 'From Zero to Top', the podcast that tells the stories and challenges of the men and women behind the largest companies in Brazil. If you are watching us on YouTube, subscribe to our channel if you haven't already, and if you are listening on your favorite podcast aggregator, you can also follow us there. Let's go to today's story.

Stef, I wanted to thank you for being here, for accepting our invitation to come.

What crisis?

Now, you are a leader in Brazilian retail for some time, and I wanted to know, before we get into your story, what is your view of retail in Brazil? Retail here... habits in a gigantic country... also continental... here in Brazil there are specific considerations... different... what our clients buy varies between regions and states. Looking at competition, what can we say? It is still very fragmented, with national and regional players. There is also a big difference compared to retail in France, where retail is more concentrated, with about five players having almost the entire market. Here, the largest have less than 50% of the market, so it's completely different. Regarding consumer habits, they are also very different. I think here we have a consumption that is more... obviously specific to the country. The way of buying, the assortment is smaller than in France, faster buying, lower prices. And also a different way of consuming, using credit more, the consumer is more indebted here than in France, more American style, using credit cards. And recently, the acquisition of Grupo Big in 2022, what did that change in the business?

Now, getting a bit into your story, Stéphane. We've already talked a bit about the company's history, but you can't hide it, you're not from here, right? I think it was clear. So tell us how you ended up here. Actually, before how you ended up in Brazil, how did you end up in retail? Because you studied engineering, right? Civil engineering. You started your career more in finance, in auditing, and then you moved to a company that worked in shopping malls and galleries, and then you started looking at retail, and you got an invitation to enter... it was an extraordinary discovery.

The move to go there, you received an invitation, it was something you couldn't escape. You ended up having to go. And then, how did you handle it? Your wife wanted to live there, with children... we were in a hurry to settle. Exactly, we finalized... the efficient Carrefour group... as a boss.

And with all these changes in your trajectory, I imagine you learned lessons about how to adapt to different cultures. How has your adaptation been? You've been in Brazil for a while now, and before we started recording, we talked about the difficulty... the truth is that the first time in Brazil was complicated because the way of arriving in a country, having to stop working as before, finding yourself in the Portuguese language... your brain has to connect Portuguese words... and also learning to work differently than in France. It takes time to adapt.

So, was that your biggest professional challenge? Or were there other challenges, like the integration of shopping centers?

Tell me about the differences between companies in Brazil and France. You also mentioned Argentina. Here we have a greater responsibility because we have the capacity to change much more than in Europe, where everything is consolidated and maybe even blocked. In Latin America, especially Brazil and Argentina, we can lead changes, showing a path of responsibility, an example. And as a leader of Carrefour, how do you see your role? Showing the way, not only generating results directly, but setting an example.

Considering leaders, I imagine what were the most valuable lessons you learned from them, sometimes painful ones. For example, proximity... strategy... the ability to project the company 5, 10 years ahead, to anticipate changes in the sector, how the consumer is changing. That's important. What did you learn from your bosses?

Interesting. And when you occupy your first leadership position, suddenly you stand out from colleagues who were by your side, and you assume the leader position. That solitude is complicated, but it has its value and necessity. What advice would you give to someone who wants to follow this path? What stones would you point out?

And with all these changes, have there been any funny or amusing moments?

It's complicated to speak so many languages, probably several in the same day, and you come home with a headache. How do you relax? Do you exercise, run, play paddle tennis, beach tennis? You learned tennis in Argentina, and it's growing here. Tennis, squash, you're in a room with a ball, it's fun. So you spend Saturdays with your wife and family, enjoying Brazil.

And this giant, what are the perspectives for the future? Are you planning to open more stores? We are working on a clear growth path, including digital. We presented results showing 10% growth in sales through digital channels. And what about the young people? Are they interested in engineering at some point in their lives?

We'll see you soon, because we have a story to tell. The story... the sound of this episode was made by Nando Lima and Camila Moura. Until the next story.