When did the company start ?

The company was founded in 1938 by the Durand Marco family, who were poulterers established in Chartres. It changed hands several times before it was bought in 1989 by Mr Guy Guellier, a butcher and poulterer in Rambouillet (78). The latter added French game to his product line, while developing the collection and processing side. The company was producing game and cooked meat products in equal proportions.

How did you reorganize the business ?

When I took it over in 2005 from Mr Guy Guellier, who wanted to retire in view of his age (65), it was doing quite well financially but it was at the end of the cycle and needed to be modernized in terms of product development, packaging, computers, food safety and quality (HACCP). I developed it by recruiting a quality engineer and by creating a quality department, while structuring the offer by working on the products, recipes, technical instructions, packaging and commercial methods (new sales arguments, recruiting a sales manager, selecting and targeting clientele, etc.). I also went out and met my principal customers, to understand their expectations and develop our business with them.  

How do you work and what do you propose?

As a collector and transformer, I am a player in the fresh French game market. I am present from the collection stage (end September to end February) on the hunting estates up to the commercialization, which means the entire chain. I give the hunt companies a contractual commitment to collect all their game, from the first to the last hunt (even in January-February, which is no longer a very good time for game consumption), according to strict specifications (animals gutted and hung in a cold room within one hour of the shoot), from the hunting estate to our game processing centre.  The game is then inspected by the departmental veterinary services (inspection, samplings and tests) before getting the authorization to bring it to market (certificates and approval stamps). Fresh French game has reached a qualitative standard rarely matched (total traceability and safety, taste quality, etc.) through the applicable regulations and, as a result, exports have gone up.  While my predecessor used to sell game as is, 95% is now transformed and sold in cuts. We propose increasingly elaborate, segmented products, which are easy to consume. We went from the entire piece to the quarter piece, then to the steak, roast or stew, while improving the shelf life (vacuum-packed, controlled atmosphere, etc.).

Our line includes 40 listed products in large game and 30 in small game. On average, we sell 200 tons of fresh French game a year. Besides game, we are developing a broad line of processed poultry products (70 listed products) sold all year round. All our products (guineafowl, duckling, duck, quail, rabbit, turkey, chicken recipes) are hand prepared by traditional methods. They also represent 200 tons annually and are sold to wholesalers, traditional retailers and caterers or shops. Lastly, we have a line of top quality ‘homemade’ brochettes (14 listed products), with chicken, lamb, pork, beef, etc., on a wooden or stainless steel skewer. We also sell 200 tons of these products a year.

What is your opinion of the game market ?

This market is increasingly qualitative and is becoming more professional, but the consumption is limited to the year end festivities. It’s a pity in view of the great quality of this meat. Better communication and a more targeted segmentation might impact the product over a larger part of the year.

What do you think of Rungis Market ?

I discovered it when I was five years old and I was enthralled. There is a wide range of products and a very big choice. As I am both a supplier (game and processed products) and a buyer (poultry, foie gras, etc.), I think that Rungis Market should develop its communication and marketing in terms of the offer and promoting its products.