When did the business start ?
The business was set up in 1978 by Mr Perrin, who began by breeding ducks. He then started a quail breeding business, after visiting a quail farm in the Ariège department, which he called Les Cailles de Chanteloup. Christophe, who has always loved animals, started working on a farm at age 15, before joining Mr Perrin’s quail farm when he was 20 (1986). He became the owner of the farm in 1991.
How did the business develop ?
Two years later, we started breeding squab. Then we added pheasant and partridges. Whole quail and quail eggs currently represent just over 60% of our total production. The company has developed in three important clientele segments, notably wholesalers (80%) throughout France, including at Rungis, exports (10%) mainly to England, and the retail trade (10%) via private buyers, works councils and research institutes (fertilized eggs) where we have an exclusivity nationally. We also export fertilized eggs to Africa and Asia.
How do you work ?
What we try to do, above all, is to produce quality and before being an abattoir, we are quail farmers. Our quail are all bred on our premises, from hatching to slaughter. We have breeders, we incubate chicks and hatch them, we raise them and finally we slaughter and sell them. The production tends to fluctuate, peaking significantly at the end of the year for the holidays. The same is true for the eggs. Our quail are given a feed that is 80% cereal-based (wheat and maize) and enriched with vitamin supplements. Quail are slaughtered after 48 to 50 days, when they reach a standing weight of 300 g. As regards squab, the breeding is outsourced to five farmers, but we do the slaughtering here after 28 to 35 days. Obviously, we do the health control on all our stock and we have employed a quality technician for that purpose for several years now. Tests are carried out regularly and we also apply the HACCP hygiene package and method. Our park is clean and well-managed. In total, our
2009 production represented five million quail eggs, 850,000 quails, 70,000 squab, 5,000 pheasants and 1,000 partridges. We produce top quality wheat-fed game and we are known for this. Our goal is to satisfy the customer. The best game is French because passion and know-how give our animal husbandry its rich cultural heritage. We sell our production in Brittany, Normandy, Ile-de-France and the North. Our objective is still focused on quality and we would like to move further upmarket to attract an upmarket clientele. However, we shall have to increase our volumes significantly to meet the rise in demand.
What do you think of Rungis Market ?
It is important for us to be here and it allows us to gauge the game market at the national level. Our presence in the Paris region is due to Rungis Market, which we have been supplying for almost ten years. We are satisfied with Rungis Market, because it has a good brand image and our products are properly promoted here.
Background
Originally from Chateaugiron (35), Christophe (age 45), Gérard (age 47) and Emmanuelle Primault were born into a family of nine children, whose father worked as an itinerant slaughterer. Chistophe started working for a farming company when he was 15, before taking over the game farm in 1991, where he has worked for the last five years. After doing his baccalaureat with an accounting option, Gérard worked for twenty years at a white goods company before joining his brother in 2004, as manager in charge of sales (prospecting and following up customers), administration and finance. After getting a baccalaureat G1, Emmanuelle came to work on the farm in 1998, and she handles the telephone reception, management, accounts and personnel.
Credit photo : Christophe Prumault