Photo courtesy from Ouest France
Petit Navire will invest 1.50 million euros in its Douarnenez center in 2022
FRANCE
Tuesday, May 24, 2022, 07:00 (GMT + 9)
Leader in canned tuna on the French market, Petit Navire will invest €1.50 million in 2022 to modernize the Douarnenez site and develop a new range of products.
The Paul Paulet cannery is one of two industrial sites (along with Quimper) and the historic birthplace of the Petit Navire brand, the leader in canned fish in France. Petit Navire employs 200 people with permanent contracts in Douarnenez (Finistère), 800 in Brittany and 1,000 in all its facilities.
The Breton brand founded in 1932 was acquired in 2010 from the Trilantic Capital Partners fund (formerly Lehman Brothers) by the Thai multinational Thaï Union. Interview with Alexis Jacquand, CEO of Petit Navire.
How is Petit Navire?
Canning has established itself as a safe haven during the lockdown. It is a market that has increased its sales by 8% compared to 2019. Since then, market sales have gradually returned to pre-Covid levels. In the first quarter of 2022, market sales fell slightly (-3%). At the same time, Petit Navire (tuna, smoked salmon, mackerel, sardines) registered a growth of 3%. As a strong leader, we are driving this market.
For example, in 2021 we had a historical market share of 32%, two points more than the previous year. We are present in more than 15 million homes in France, recruiting new buyers over time. In the context, we face cost inflation and supply difficulties.
You are going to invest 1.5 million euros in the Douarnenez site...
This is twice as much as in previous years, an investment aimed at improving the production tool. This implies supporting growth targets of 12% to reach 31 million boxes in 2025.
It is also launching "Recipes from Douarnenez"...
Fifteen fish-based references are made at the Douarnenez site, which concentrates products with higher added value, such as marinated tuna flakes, salads or spreads, and in particular a new recipe, marinated tuna flakes with garlic, which completes the range. All recipes meet nutriscore A or B specifications. Today we are rediscovering the virtues of these products.
Sourcing from certified fisheries
After Greenpeace's actions in 2016, have you given up on fish aggregating devices?
We have worked hard for six years in the implementation of actions at the sector level. We ourselves are not fishermen. We work with fisheries that use different types of fishing, including FADs, as well as free school, rod and line, purse seine fishing.
Petit Navire Douarnenez center --->
The challenge is to ensure that the supplies are made from certified fisheries, according to criteria that we believe are sound from an environmental and social point of view, that is, with the MSC label or in transition towards MSC criteria (for Marine Stewardship Council). We have chosen this MSC label which we consider to be a strong label for monitoring quantities caught and fishing methods.
|
|