Hautes-Pyrénées dairy farmers in shock: “Danone is abandoning us” – ladepeche.fr

At the exit of Bazillac, the hangar stands proudly. Taking care of his 70 dairy cows, Arnaud Capdeville does not falter either. However, uncertainty has invaded this farm where we have always produced for the Villecomtal dairy in the Gers. A commitment with Danone on the way to evaporate.

“The collection will stop on December 31, 2022” confirms this young breeder, representative of the producers’ organization which negotiated the contracts for the 227 farms in the South-West supplying the factories of Villecomtal and Lacapelle in the Lot. That is 87 million liters of milk collected per year in the South-West, a volume that is being eroded a little more each year.

“This is the coup de grace,” says the young breeder who invested € 800,000 in the farm six years ago, going into debt for twenty years. Already we earn little, we work every day, without taking any vacation. And overnight, the industrialist leaves, without even warning the producers… ”

Read also :
DEPECHE INFO. In the Gers, Danone is switching its Villecomtal plant to plants

“Who will be motivated to continue? “

This Wednesday, a meeting was held with the management following the announcement of the abandonment of milk for the Gers plant which will only manufacture vegetable drinks in a little over a year. A shock for the Capdeville family, whose entire production, ie 825,000 liters per year, is destined for Villecomtal, at the rate of one collection every three days. “When we made investments, Danone assured us that they would be there for years to come. Today, we cannot do better at the building level. There is real comfort for the cows. And Danone abandons us. Tomorrow, there may be nothing left here… ”Arnaud Capdeville cannot bring himself to this.

Also like many of his fellow breeders, he expects real support measures promised by the agri-food group. “At the meeting, the general manager told us to think about making meat. It’s out of touch with reality. We did not expect the end of the collection in a year. We are left to graze. If we made these investments, it is because we were projecting ourselves in time with Danone.

What are the milkmen going to do? Meet the other cooperatives in a context where we will not be in a strong position to discuss, with interlocutors who charge already low prices? Who among us will stay motivated? Who are those who will have no choice? Given our volumes, we have no choice but to work with manufacturers. But no alternative solution was anticipated. We are victims of a fashion and a strategic change of a group for which we rose every day… ”

The deadline set at one year will arrive quickly for Pyrenean dairy farmers. Their future is very uncertain today.

Danone: “Identify concrete and adapted solutions for all”

For its part, the Danone group lets us know: “The project was presented on Monday to our social partners as well as to the President of the organization of dairy producers concerned. We subsequently met the Organization of Producers on Wednesday. November 17 in order to share project information and answer their questions We have laid the foundations for a calm and constructive dialogue Danone is committed to working hand in hand to identify concrete and suitable solutions for all.

We will maintain this strong link with producer representatives, as has always been the case. Our teams are fully mobilized and available to answer their questions and move forward together. “

An information meeting schedule with the Bureau should be set soon with the President in order to ensure communication throughout the transition period.