How did you get started in this business ?

When I was a child, I was fascinated by hunting and game. I started hunting at 16 and when I was 30 I decided to become to game breeder after working as a sales representative in mass distribution. I did a specialized training before starting to work for a company that traded game with countries in central Europe, particularly Rumania. In 1996, I chose to set up my own business and I went to England, at Sharing (Kent) to start up my company. With the openings in the single market, the English market became very promising for live game used for hunting. Then I created my company called “Gib’Ô”, at Milhaud, in the Gard department, in 2000.

What does your company do ?

We produce about 750,000 partridge eggs and 700,000 pheasant eggs, 70% of which are sold in the form of eggs and the rest in the form of day-old chicks.
We have a certain number of producers under inclusive contract, representing about ten game breeding farms, where we sell the breeding cages, feeds and selected breeders. We then collect their eggs, which we place in our own hatcheries. A portion of the eggs is shipped to England and another portion goes to professional breeders in the form of day-old chicks. It is important to know that out of 100 eggs in incubation, 30% are always lost naturally (the eggs are not fertilized or the chicks cannot break out). Our suppliers are mostly located in the greater South-West area, along the Atlantic coast (the climate is good for breeding) as well as in the South-East. The professionals working for us are all licensed breeders and controls (blood tests) are regularly carried out to detect salmonella and other diseases. Similarly, the eggs that do not hatch are also analysed. We are subject to controls in the context of our business as well as for export (quality, quantity, use of products) by the French health authorities and French and English customs authorities.

What are your outlets ?

About 95% of our production is designed for the English market, which is a large consumer of hunting game. In England, the bird is released at six weeks and the hunts in battues only start fourteen weeks later so that the bird can get used to living in the wild and recover certain natural reflexes to become as “fly” as possible.

We also sell hunting game killed in England at Rungis Market (50% of volumes), in Belgium and Holland, totalling roughly 170 tons/year. This includes partridge and pheasant, but also deer, doe, hare and rabbit. These are top quality products and particularly tasty.

What is your development strategy ?

French legislation now permits the sale of dead game throughout the year, subject to proving an upstream breeder production. We have therefore decided to develop shortly the processing of this game into prepared products (cuts, steaks, sausages) and sell it through retail shops and to end-consumers. We are confident about this market, especially as our price will be attractive. Game is increasingly served not just at the end of the year, as in Belgium, Germany or Holland, which have a high consumption potential, along with the eastern European countries.

What is the game market like ?

Although France is the leading European producer of game for hunting, the consumption is relatively low. Nonetheless, between 20 and 30 million pheasants and partridges are sold on the French market. On average, we count five farmed animals for one wild. We see that game consumption is no longer tied to special periods or occasions and it is spread more evenly throughout the year. Furthermore, there is a return to tasty products and game is well placed in this area. I am confident in the future of this market and I see it developing favourably because we will be reaching a broader clientele than that of hunters. The best farmed game is French but it is still a niche market in France, with 1,300 breeders and ten exporting companies like our own.

What do you think of Rungis Market ?

It is an exceptional market that I know well as I sell half my production here and it is where you find a wide range of quality products and excellent professionals who know how to promote their products perfectly.