The French group LDC that owns the chickens being Rented and the agro-industrial Ukrainian MHP are bidding to take over at least partially the gallery in trouble Sweet, a victim of its lack of competitiveness on the international. If the group sarthois has not given any detail in the short term on the content of its offer, the Ukrainian has published a press release on Wednesday, march 28 evening confirming the filing of its proposal and its willingness to develop a “draft strategic industrial long-term in Châteaulin, Quimper and Plouray” in Britain.
MHP has “filed a legally binding offer” for the “partial recovery” of Soft, indicated to the AFP a spokesperson of MHP. This is in particular offered the prospect of an investment of “76 million euros,” intended to “build a new factory” to Châteaulin in Finistère “within two years” and “upgrading” to other facilities.
The strategy of the Ukrainian group “would allow the immediate backup of approximately 285 positions would add approximately 430 positions at the start of the new production unit in Châteaulin” the statement said. The employees of the factory of Châteaulin which will not be repeated in the immediate future, would then “employment priority”.
“It is a complete change of strategy,” said the spokesperson, “abandoning the production of certain frozen seafood products for export, to be replaced by fresh products for the French market,” she added.
The group LDC (chickens Leased) suggested 298 employees and promises 203 “offers, reclassifications of proximity” within the group, in its project of resumption of the gallery is Mild in difficulty, he announced his side on Thursday. This plan provides for an investment of € 60 million, which would be in addition to the construction of a new industrial site of slaughter and cutting of poultry in Châteaulin (Finistère) to an industrial investment of € 55 million.
The offer of LDC (chickens Rented) for the partial recovery of the group gallery Soft is part of the “offer agreed” to a consortium that would retain 920 jobs, announced Thursday the co-operative Terrena and the ministry of Agriculture. This consortium, composed of the main French actors of the poultry sector, LDC and Terrena, which had reverted back to Soft as well as the first customer of Sweet, the group, saudi Al-Munajem and society Poultry of Plouray, would also 418 offers of redeployment to other employees of Sweet, which currently employs 1.187 persons.
Setbacks
Despite its recovery in march 2016 by the second cooperative group French Terrena, the trials and tribulations of Soft, accumulated: the group loses more than 35 million euros per year. “The Brazilians have flooded the saudi market”, where Sweet had a good position, and had indicated to the AFP a trade union delegate CGT Sweet, Patrick Moigne on march 12. “It’s not that we don’t have customers, these are the prices the problem. Every ton that we produce we lose money,” he added.
At the beginning of march, Terrena has indicated that it could not support “forever,” the group, which employs some 1,200 people after a thousand job cuts in 2012. Terrena hope to avoid having to pay a fine of up to some 80 million euros, to which Soft could be exposed for having sold chickens with a water content greater than the standard.
A judgment on the subject of the administrative tribunal of Rennes is expected on 6 April, while Soft, could ask its into receivership on 3 April. But the problem of funds for Soft is the lack of international competitiveness. Terrena has been estimated at 100 million euros to the needs of Mild to change the economic model via the industrial investments, in marketing, communication, and research.
Another company of poultry breton Tilly Sabco International, who has already had two social plans since 2014, has been placed Tuesday in receivership by the tribunal de commerce of Brest. The sector has not been able to adapt to the demands of the international market that wants more and more cuts, while France is one of the few countries where the consumer is still buying a lot of whole chickens.
“Chicken and low cost”
“The average weight of a chicken in France is 1.9 kg, gold all of our neighbors have chickens weighing 2.4 or 2.5 kg. They do not have the same genetic” and once the vif is transformed into a carcass, and cut into pieces (fillets, thighs, drumsticks), “this little difference becomes large because the performance of the nets is better” for chickens, coming from abroad, which explains, according to Christian Renault, study desk AND international, the lack of competitiveness of the poultry of france.
Since the arrival of MHP in the folder, piloted by Bercy, the biggest fear of some elected officials is that MHP “bought the brand for chicken low cost airline in Ukraine”, while enjoying the aura of the brand’s Soft in the Middle East, told AFP a source in parliament.
(With AFP)