Another French chicken factory announces closure

French poultry processor Gastronome, part of the large agricultural cooperation Terrena, has announced plans to close its plant in Luche-Pringe. The news comes just a few days after Tilly-Sabco, another chicken processing company, filed for bankruptcy.

Gastronome, the second poultry processor in France with currently fourteen factories and a turnover of €869 million in 2013, says it has lost some €53 million over the last four fiscal years because of the serious and continuing problems in the French poultry sector.

The company therefore started a restructuring plan with the aim to reduce costs significantly.

According to Gastronome, the plant in Luche-Pringe, which processes and packages chicken and turkey cutlets and recently started to produce ready meals, is not competitive. The factory is also too isolated from the main poultry producing regions in the country, leading to extra transport costs of the raw material. Moreover, Luche-Pringe is hit too by the decline in the sales of turkey in France and is currently operating at half its capacity.

Gastronome and mother company Terrena say it’s their intention to relocate the 165 workers of the plant to other locations within the group.