COMM 401 – STRATEGY & COMPETITION
Individual Case Assignment
Winter 2018 - Section S
CHATEAU KSARA OF LEBANON
Presented to: Professor Michel Greiche
Presented by: Oliver Petrela - 27077769
Word Count: 1647
Tuesday, February 19th, 2019
John Molson School of Business - Concordia University
BRIEF CASE SUMMARY
Château Ksara was founded in 1857 by Jesuit monks. Upon the inheritance of a 25-hectare plot
of land in Bekaa Valey, Lebanon, they commenced their journey into viticulture and went on to
develop and produce Lebanon’s first dry wine.
In 1972, Chateau Ksara was bought out by a local group of businessmen. Throughout the
turmoil of the Lebanese civil war (1975 to 1991) they continued production and resiliently
became one of the most well-known wine brands in Lebanon. Near the end of the civil war, a
new board of directors took control of Chateau Ksara. They implemented new strategies
internally and externally; cultivating new grape varietals, building customer relationships,
launching innovative marketing campaigns, and investing in equipment and human resources.
In late 2016, Zafer Chaoui, CEO of Château Ksara, dined at a restaurant in celebration of
he and his wife’s 30th wedding anniversary. Upon asking for the wine menu, he was not able to
locate any of Château Ksara’s products. This prompted him to wonder why his wines were
missing from the menu and sparked many questions regarding positioning, quality control,
market analysis, and differentiation. Throughout its history, Château Ksara remained financially
stable - the question was how to continue this tradition of success