French agrifood cooperative Terrena, which has a turnover of about €5 billion, has purchased a controlling share in poultry giant the Doux group of 52.5 per cent.
It will be amalgamated with Terrena’s poultry subsidiary Gastronome, which together is expected to generate a turnover of approximately €1.4 billion. The move will consolidate the cooperative’s status as the second-biggest poultry company in France behind LDC, producing 23 per cent of the nation’s output.
Doux and Gastronome together will supply the brands Père Dodu, Douce France, Fermiers d'Ancenis, and Saint-Sever, as well as selling poultry under the Gastronome brand itself.
Maxime Vandoni, the managing director of Terrena, said in a statement that the company wants to "enhance the expertise of its producers in order to enlarge its clientele, particularly internationally, and thus help to consolidate the strength of the poultry sector in a creative manner.
"Our ambition is to create market-leading poultry brands, to win market share in France, and export French know-how internationally."
She added that the Nantes-based company will “implement a major investment strategy in the next month to complete the project.”
The purchase occurred in conjunction with investment company D&P Participations and Sofiprotéol, which will own a portion of Terrena’s holding in the Doux group.
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Peter Donnelly. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here
