- The Breton food industry is also suffering from the coronavirus epidemic. Some companies are idling, while others are spinning.
- Many companies are facing the decline in activity due to the closure of restaurants and canteens.
- If no shortage of labor is noted, uncertainty hangs over the continuity of the logistics sector.
Often considered as "the breadbasket of France", Brittany is suffering the brunt of the coronavirus crisis. If its farmers and herders can continue to work, they see their distribution channels reduced. With them, the entire food industry is in doubt. We see on the one hand dying societies, weighed down by the closure of restaurants and canteens. And on the other, sites that are fueled by the growing appetite of mass distribution. 20 Minutes takes stock of a sector in full turmoil that takes refuge behind a watchword: "eat varied".
"I warn you, I live under stress". Joël Tingaud has a calm voice and a calm tone. But for the boss of Ateliers de l'Argoat, the situation is far from simple. At the head of a company which employs 85 people in Plélan-le-Grand (Ille-et-Vilaine), he saw more than half of his turnover soar with the closure of the restaurants. Fortunately for him, his homemade andouille sausages continue to be sold by large retailers. “But we can see that the supermarkets prefer products with high turnover. We end up with large stocks of which we don't really know what to do, ”admits Joël Tingaud. For now, the boss continues to make work most of his employees by using part-time. Burdened with requests last summer, the entrepreneur had even recruited to cope with the growing activity. But that was before the Covid-19 epidemic began.
"Businesses left overnight"
Faced with the uncertainty of the confinement period, the boss of the Ateliers de l'Argoat is in the dark. He is not the only one. In Concarneau (Finistère), the construction site for the new factory of the Brasserie de Bretagne is almost stopped. “The companies left overnight. I can understand it given the situation but it was a bit brutal ”. Like the prefect of Morbihan, who urges businesses to reopen, the owner of the largest Breton brewery hopes that workers will soon be back. "We can find solutions and work the trades in turn to limit contact," suggests Marc-Olivier Bernard.
While waiting for the site to resume, the owner of the Britt brewery has extended the life of his historic factory in Trégunc. “We have a drop in activity due to the closure of the cafes. We have lifted our foot on production because we know that our products are not essential for survival. But this period of confinement should not mean that we no longer have fun. Our beers are there for that. I want to invite consumers to vary their purchases. We are not going to eat pasta every day ”. Slightly more than a third of its fifty employees are currently stationary.
"An unprecedented peak in sales"
Further east, Fabrice Chapuzet experiences the opposite situation. At the head of the Champignons Lou brand, located near Fougères (Ille-et-Vilaine), the boss saw the activity of his factory explode at the start of the week. "An unprecedented peak in sales," he admits. Orders for mushrooms, sold 98% to mass retailers, have increased fourfold, even fivefold. "We couldn't cope. We were able to meet 65 to 70% of the demand during these three days. ”
Since then, the situation has returned to normal but the activity of the site remains sustained. Fortunately for him, Fabrice Chapuzet can count on almost 100% of its 170 employees. "We have seen real collective mobilization". Every two days, the Lou company gathers its teams on the company's parking lot to inform them. “Our concern is whether we can always be supplied with raw materials and packaging. To work, you have to produce, but you also have to ship. How long will the transportation last? And the power plants? Asks Lou's boss.
"The cows don't stop producing"
The manager tackles the absence of certain interlocutors. In the administration but also in certain retail chains, unreachable for several days. To try to make the link between the various trades, the Breton association of agrifood companies (ABEA) has mobilized widely. His message goes in the same direction. “We have businesses that can't stop. Cows don't stop producing milk, neither does the vegetable, ”says Marie Kieffer, director of ABEA.
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