Nearly 200 dairy farmers in the South-West have been worried about their future since Danone announced the upcoming conversion of a yoghurt factory in the Gers into a plant-based drink production site, therefore without milk.
Read also Danone under pressure from rising costs
"
There is a lot of bitterness, the feeling that you are let go because there is more money to be made with the plant than the animal
", reacted Thursday to AFP the president of the organization of producers delivering Danone in the South-West (OPSOL), Romain Gavoille.
“
When there is a breach of contract, there will be no more collection by Danone, we will be without a buyer
” for 70 million liters of milk, he added.
Vegetable drinks
At the start of the week, the French agribusiness leader announced that it would invest 43 million euros in 2022 to "
convert (its) site based in Villecomtal-sur-Arros in the Gers into a beverage production site plants
”. The factory, which has nearly 160 employees, currently produces yoghurts of the Activia, Velouté and Danone brands with local fruits, from milk collected from 187 breeders in the region. Next fall, its transformation into a factory of "
vegetable drinks mainly made from oats for the Alpro brand
" intended for the "
French and European markets
"
will begin
.
“
The plant-based food market has tripled over the past seven years and is expected to grow another 50% by 2025 in France. With this project, we plan to increase our production capacity for UHT vegetable drinks by 25% by 2024 in France
”, explains the group. Danone does not plan to reduce its production of yogurt in France, according to its statements to AFP: "
All the volumes of Villecomtal-sur-Arros will be transferred to our other sites
" where investments are planned. But Danone will no longer buy the milk from the breeders who delivered the Gers plant. Danone says it wants "
work hand in hand with the organization of producers in the South West in order to find concrete solutions adapted to the different situations of our agricultural partners
”.
"
Social plan
"
“
Danone must offer solutions.
We cannot let go in the open countryside, with alms, long-term partners
, ”pleads with AFP the National Federation of Milk Producers (FNPL), a specialized section of the majority union FNSEA.
In a press release, the union "
supports all these producers who are victims of a brutal social plan which does not speak its name
".
“
As the closure of a factory has consequences in a region that go beyond the loss of direct jobs, calling into question collection in a department also has serious consequences in terms of jobs and economic vitality. beyond farmers,
”continues the FNPL.
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The transformation of the Gers site will also have repercussions for employees, not yet quantified by the group, which ensures that there will be no forced departure.
"
What is regrettable is that we arrive at a social plan when we could have anticipated things,
" said Laurent Pouillen, FGTA-FO coordinator of the Danone group, to AFP.
“
There is work to be done so that this transformation has the least possible impact
” for the employees, adds the union official.
At the same time, he considers that “
it's good that Danone is investing in France
” in plants - “
it's a bit of the future
”.