French agriculture co-op Terrena has merged its subsidiary Gastronome with Doux, acquired six months ago for €1.4bn, to create Galliance. And Terrena will invest three yearly instalments of €50m in Galliance to arm the poultry player for a major offensive on the domestic and international markets.
The goal is to ensure not just a monopolisation of the French poultry market, but to fire up a surge in French chicken exports.
To do this, Terrena will invest in a new abattoir at Ancenis, western France, as well as launch “major efforts” in research and development to improve the portfolio of poultry products available for domestic and international clientele. Investment will also be used to strengthen the brand recognition of key poultry range Père Dodu across France’s retail space.
In defence of France
“At a particularly difficult time for the agricultural world, we want to invest to provide sustainable business opportunities for all of our producers,” said Hubert Garaud, president of Terrena, in a press statement.
“We want to build, through innovation and quality, a poultry industry that creates value and is capable of defending the positions of French poultry producers on the European and world market.”
When combining the revenue streams of newly-merged companies Gastronome and Doux, Galliance is expected to have a turnover of €1.3bn, selling 420,000 tonnes of poultry, with 6,000 employees.
Parent company Terrena has a turnover of €5bn, employs 14,000 staff and claims to be one of the Europe’s leading players in the agribusiness space.