How did your company start ?

I started out in the pork butcher profession whenI was 14 by doing an apprenticeship with a local butcher-delicatessen, which gave me two professional diplomas (CAP and Brevet de maîtrise). After various internships and several jobs as production manager, I became a salesperson and worked for twelve years for a company in the Limousin region, specialized in meats and cooked meats. I finally came back to this region in 1988, to a small village in the Morvan department called Onlay with 150 inhabitants, where I decided to set up a cooked meat business called Les Terrines du Morvan. Actually, when I used to travel through the South-West and Limousin, I realised that there were canned food manufacturers every 50 kilometres, contrary to my region in the Morvan where there were none. There was a gap, so I said to myself why not fill it? Luckily, the city council at the time provided me with a 350 m2 space and we started up our activity with six people. This was the era of the famous “start-up buildings” to encourage new companies. The company now occupies 2000 m2 and we are about to expand again.

What is product range do you sell ?

We started with farmhouse and duck terrines (180 g), which are quality, middle-range products that have the advantage of being easy to make, good to eat and keeping well. Our products are made from traditional recipes from the Burgundy region, particularly from Morvan. We have improved these recipes over time, by adding a personal touch and using equipment better adapted to our production methods. We then started up production of ready-made dishes (1.6 kg), prepared in the spirit of tasty regional dishes. We make canned poultry, pork and game. Today, the terrines still have the highest production volume (900,000 units), ahead of ready-made dishes (700,000 units). This represents just over 330 tons of raw materials in total and our product range has about fifty listed products.
Besides our two flagship products, we also distribute (but do not produce) a certain number of regional products, such as Charolais beef, marbled and cured ham, cakes and confectionery, mustard, blackcurrants, etc. They are sold in our Château-Chinon and Onlay stores. Burgundy is a region of tradition and quality and a good number of its products are based on recipes and dishes that are now national favourites. This is recognition for Burgundy .

How do you work ?

We buy as close as possible to our business. This means that the vast majority of our raw products come from Burgundy and neighbouring departments. These are labelled products (Label Rouge) and certified traditionnal produce. For the ready-made dishes like bœuf bourguignon or bœuf aux haricots, we use Charolais beef. We put a lot of effort into the seasoning and all the ingredients are fresh. We ban all additives from our preparations. For example, our Morvandelle terrine, prepared according to an old recipe, only contains pork, rabbit, chicken liver and Burgundy wine (red or white depending on the recipe).

After taking delivery of goods and controlling them, we move onto the product preparation and production stages (mincing, seasoning, kneading, placing in containers, sterilization, vacuum packing, packaging, etc.). About fifteen people are involved in making the products. It takes slightly longer to prepare the meats for ready-made dishes (all the pieces have to be checked for weight conformity) and place them in containers. They are also adapted to automated production.
We make all our products ourselves, according to our own recipes and we run tasting tests every Monday morning. We have won several regional prizes for the quality of our products, including the “L’Essor du Morvan” prize. To satisfy the customers, we try hard to make good products that are not too fattening, using the best products and quality raw materials. We work with about forty suppliers, including a dozen meat producers. The traditional products are still the most popular. Generally speaking, the cooked meat business is growing, but in a limited way…

What do you think of Rungis Market ?

We have been supplying Rungis Market for the last dozen years and it is useful for us because of the volumes we sell there. It is a high quality Market that allows us to distribute our production to a certain number of fine food stores and groceries…