The modesty and discretion of Maurice Desailly (67 years old) are equal to his many professional qualities and his formidable work capacity. He represents the third generation of managers of this company, established in 1935 in Les Halles de Paris, by Maurice Desailly, his grandfather.

"The company restarted its activity after the last World War, and Maurice Desailly, my father, took over the management. He already had a European "vision" of trading and started to carry out import/export business with the countries that form today's Europe. Also, he developed a clientele made up of medium-sized supermarket chains (Comptoirs Français, Goulet-Turpin, Félix Potin, Laiterie Parisienne, etc.). A person with great force of character and a hard worker, he made sure he had the right team and always had a new project on the go... After studying at the "Ecole de la Chambre de Commerce" in Paris and with a basic legal qualification, I joined the family company in 1956, starting at the bottom of the ladder as my father wished. On returning from military service (16 months in Germany and 12 months in Algeria) in 1960, and following several training courses in Switzerland and Germany, I was appointed to the Export Department where I accompanied the Manager everywhere in Europe, as part of our commercial missions. On arriving at the Rungis MIN in 1969, I was appointed company manager at my father's request.

Our fifteen lorries made two rounds a day making the area a hive of activity. In 1974, the company had up to 140 employees and we dealt with volumes of 10,000 metric tons per year, a quarter of which was made up of exports. It was one of the largest businesses in this domain in the Ile de France. The establishment of the GMS (General Merchandise Store) signalled our further advancement as it did not have platforms at that time. Subsequently, however, the latter was equipped with new infrastructures and we found ourselves losing significant volumes. Two years ago my daughter Sophie took up the post of General Manager and currently the company employs some forty staff with import-export representing half of our turnover. Our clientele comprises creamery retailers for 60% and supermarket distribution for the rest. Our products mainly include high-quality cheeses with long maturing periods, farm cheeses and all European cheeses (Dutch, English, Italian, Swiss, etc.), which hold an important place, i.e. about 1,500 references… Our profession is experiencing difficulties relating to problems with circulation due to inadequate infrastructures that deny us a major part of the clientele to the north of Paris. In addition, we have further difficulties regarding deliveries, which represents a decrease in volume of 30% with respect to the two previous years. There is also a shortage of delivery drivers and young people who are not attracted to our business due to the hard work and schedule constraints involved. As would be expected, the Market is now focusing increasingly on international trade and has become highly modernised. In contrast with former years, the Market now has a very positive image since it converted to European Standards. Rungis is at present a major European platform..."