When did the business start?

The business dates back to 1890 – 1900; it was founded by Mr Prosper Cousin, who held a concession from the city of Paris for a farm called “Grésillons”, located on the plain of Achères. He grew market garden produce there, which he sold at Les Halles de Paris. After his death in World War I, his daughters took over the business and one of them married my grandfather, Alphonse Natali, who was born in Corsica and had just left the army. My aunt Paulette Natali and my father, Remi Nataili, took over the business in January 1957, setting up a company called Natali, which specialized in selling vegetables. In 1969, the company left Les Halles de Paris to come to Rungis Market and the move took place smoothly.  In those days, the company used to market potatoes, onions, garlic, shallots and large vegetables. I became the managing director in 1997.

How did your business develop ?

I joined the company in 1980, after my military service, and I built up the recently created delivery service. At first located next to Espace Rungis, the company, which then had six people, moved to the C2 pavilion in 1990. We mainly sell French produce to a clientele composed of Greek restaurants, itinerant retailers and greengrocer stores. We used to sell everything that was ratatouille, eggplants, bell peppers; that period lasted a good ten years.

In those days, the company had developed with deliveries, which represented as much as sales on the floor. We then expanded our line to include tomatoes, lettuces, citrus fruit and other vegetables. In the 1990s we developed two brands: the “Mademoiselle” brand for oranges and clementines from Spain, and the “Bouquet” brand for Spanish watermelon and melons. Nowadays, 60% of our line is vegetables and 40% citrus fruit, not to mention a large volume of watermelons.

What is your development strategy

Our development strategy is based on a wide diversification of our product line, which inevitably means buying specialized companies that can bring us this diversification. We have recently bought Husson, a company with a complete service, and Ets Epaillard and Boisdet, which are also very specialized (mushrooms, baby and heirloom vegetables). Moreover we shall pursue this strategy through other acquisitions, as well as by developing other products until we obtain a broader segmentation, ranging from middle to top-of-the-line.

What products do you sell?

The volumes sold by all three of our companies represent just over 37,000 tons a year. The flagship products are basically large vegetables, watermelon, melon and the various citrus varieties. The latter are mostly handled by Natali because the other two companies deal with more specific products in smaller volumes. Our clientele is quite diverse, consisting of warehouses and mini-markets (35%), retailers on markets and in shops (25%), wholesalers and semi-wholesalers (22%), intra-community export (10%) only and the food processing industry (8%). The fact that about 60% of our clientele is made up of retailers proves that there is a return to consumer interest in the retail trade and I firmly believe in this. We sense a return to local shopping because it is the only solution that satisfies consumer expectations through greater choice and better promotion of the products, higher quality products and much better value for money than in large and medium-sized supermarkets. However, the retailer obviously has to be able to propose the right product at the right time.

What do you think of Rungis Market ?

I remain confident and firmly believe in Rungis Market’s permanence. Moreover, the figures confirm my opinion. Rungis is a great showcase on a European or even a world level, but it needs to be more attractive. It is an economic centre that is unique and vital, on which our development strategy depends. Furthermore, the development of fresh produce is inherent in Rungis Market’s renown. Rungis Market adapts to the business activity and we in turn must adapt our activity to that of the Market. However, the burden of the charges and rents is regrettable.