Buffet Crampon

Buffet Crampon SAS is a French manufacturer of wind instruments based in Mantes-la-Ville, Yvelines department.

Its subsidiary, Buffet Crampon Deutschland GmbH, founded in 2010 and based in Markneukirchen, Vogtland, Sachsen, is the world market leader in the manufacture of brass instruments.

[6] Denis Buffet-Auger, of the Buffet family of French musical instrument makers, began making quality clarinets in Paris, France in 1825.

(Another family member, Auguste Buffet jeune, who worked with famous clarinetist Hyacinthe Klosé to develop the Boehm system for clarinet, had his own business separate from BC.)

In 1910 BC introduced the Apogee premium model saxophone, which had innovative keywork features that were later adapted by other manufacturers.

[7] Buffet also became the leading distributor of student-grade instruments in Europe, marketing French and Italian made saxophones under their Evette & Schaeffer brand.

During the late 1970s and 1980s, the company's position in the student saxophone market collapsed in the face of competition from Yamaha, who offered higher quality and more up-to-date instruments, and lower cost East German, Czech, and Asian manufacturers.

In 2006 Buffet Group acquired two brass instrument manufacturers, Antoine Courtois Paris and Besson.

In 2008 Buffet Group acquired the Leblanc clarinet factory in La Couture-Boussey, Département of Eure, Haute-Normandie in France.

In 2012, BC Germany also takes over B&S GmbH, which also produces in Markneukirchen, the leading European manufacturer of brass instruments with 250 employees and the brands B&S, Hans Hoyer, Melton, Meinl, Weston and J. Scherzer and integrates them into the company,[11] whose workforce will grow to more than 400 employees (470 at the beginning of 2021).

Fondations Capital is a subsidiary of Trail, a European private-equity company with registered office in Paris.

2020 BC opens a showroom in Beijing and builds a new factory (BCMMI) for 130 employees near Shanghai, with an annual capacity of 50,000 instruments.

Basset clarinet, oboe d'amore, piccolo trumpet
Euphonium
Baritone saxophone
Logo from 1844
2005: Logo of the new company Buffet Group Wind Instruments S.A.S.
2016: Logo of the renamed company Buffet Crampon S.A.S.
Barrel in boxwood