The Cooperl is the number of pigs in France.

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FRED TANNEAU AFP

  • Heavily sanctioned in the case of the "ham cartel", the Cooperl threatens to close several of its factories in Brittany.

  • Number one in pigs in France, the Breton cooperative employs 7,200 people.

  • According to Cooperl, his conviction is based on a "false document".

The food industry is shaking in Brittany.

The tremors come from Cooperl, the Breton cooperative which is number one in pork in France.

Sentenced to a fine of 35.5 million euros by the Competition Authority in the case of the "ham cartel", Cooperl is now considering closing several of its factories.

"I am not blackmailing, we are playing our survival," said Tuesday at a press conference Emmanuel Commault, general manager of the cooperative group which employs 7,200 people, mainly in the West.

In mid-July, twelve ham and charcuterie manufacturers had been fined 93 million euros for price agreements between 2010 and 2013. The enforcement of this sanction has not yet been required by the Authority. , according to the group, which expects this to happen by the end of October.

The strongest sanction the Cooperl, based in Lamballe (Côtes-d'Armor), which defended his innocence during the procedure and appealed.

"We are virtually bankrupted"

He is specifically criticized for having exchanged with other manufacturers of cooked ham between 2010 and 2012 "to consult on the price offers to be offered, in particular in response to calls for tenders from large-scale retailers", according to the text of the decision.

For the Cooperl group, its conviction is based on a "false document", the notebook of a sales director of the Aosta company, a subsidiary of the Campofrio group.

Campofrio requested leniency from the Competition Authority in this case and was fined a reduced fine of one million euros for this.

"By brutally condemning us on the basis of a forgery […], we are virtually in default of payment," lamented Emmanuel Commault, stressing that the appeal did not suspend the payment of the fine.

"If we are asked to pay in the coming days […], we stop all recruitments, all investment projects and we commit to a hard restructuring plan", he added, mentioning “Wage cuts” and “factory closures”.

"The plan is almost close", he added, stressing that the "reflection" concerned several factories, among the twelve bought as part of the takeover of Brocéliande in 2010 and the assets of the holding company Financière Turenne Lafayette in 2017.

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  • Economy

  • Fine

  • Food industry

  • Sanction

  • Pig

  • Pork