Michel Charraire (52 years old) has been in the world of fruits and vegetables from a very young age…

"I am the son and grandson of fruit and vegetable wholesalers specialising in potatoes. My grandfather, Maurice Charraire, created the company in 1947, an age when a distinction was made between fruit and vegetable distributors and potato traders… After business school studies (ECAD), I had grand ideas of being an executive in the family business (10 employees, 4 lorries, selling mainly to restaurants) then located at Gare de Reuilly - Paris 12e. My father, however, saw things differently and offered me a job as a driver-delivery man. After the initial disappointment, I took the job and stayed there for the next seven years. Each day meant heaving 50kg bags around on my back! Once my delivery round was over, I went out prospecting for new customers. Now, I look back on that time and thank my father as it was an exceptional experience… After purchasing ten or so rival companies in as many years, our company found itself at a crossroads! Following the introduction of transferred consumption, frozen chips, vacuum-packed products, precooked and pasteurized products took over and the former trade disappeared. In contrast to my grandfather who sold a hundred tonnes of fresh potatoes per day, we sell no more than fifteen tonnes today.

This fact was really driven home in 1980 with the creation of a frozen foods department. Following the construction of our site in Vitry, we launched our fruit and vegetable business with just 3 customers! Today, from the Vitry site (130 employees), we sell over 900 tonnes per day (to the commercial catering sector), 7 days a week backed up by our 45-strong fleet of lorries and a 24/24 order taking service. As a store with a full service offer, we use the very latest cutting edge IT and telematics technologies and equipment. We then targeted the external growth of our business with the purchase of several profitable stores: Les Vergers Saint-Eustache in 2000 (top-quality multi-product range), Les Halles Trottemant in 2002 (quality products), Ciraldi in 2007 (in Argenteuil, multi-product range). Thanks to the Semmaris, and to its president Marc Spielrein, we were able to acquire a warehouse at Rungis and continue our business expansion. The Groupe Charraire now counts some 280 employees, boasts a turnover of €400 M, and serves 1,500 customers per day in the Ile de France area (commercial catering including all the 3* hotels, other hotels and the major chains, etc.). We also deliver daily to fifty top-of-the-range restaurants in London (Savoy, Ritz-London … and also to Ducasse, Gagnaire, Robuchon, to name just a few), i.e. 20 pallets. We also export to some Middle East countries. Rungis is the nec plus ultra of fresh produce, and we are extremely lucky to be able to benefit from this enormous potential… ."