Agrial and Eurial merge

The planned fusion of the dairy processing interests owned by two of France’s largest agricultural cooperatives, Agrial and Eurial, has already caused waves in the country’s domestic market. With a total processing amount of some 2 billion litres and a marketing and cool chain distribution network covering most of western Europe, the result brings another very big player onto the European stage. The group will include Agrial’s 50% (owned with Senoble) Senegral dairy which specialises in yogurts and dairy drinks. Agrial and its new partner announce the future introduction of yogurts that will challenge Danone for the leadership of the domestic market in France and attract increased sales all over the continent. Senegral itself produces over 120,000 t of stirred, drinking and probiotic yogurts and dairy desserts from its French plants every year. One of the mother concern’s plans announced this summer is the revival of a yogurt brand with the unlikely name of “La Roche aux Fées”. This was marketed with great success back in the 1960s and 70s. The name is rather like a yogurt being labelled “Stonehenge” in Britain, because La Roche aux Fées is a Stone Age formation of monoliths near Chateaubriand in Brittany.

In total, the farmer cooperative Agrial currently collects 965 million litres milk per year and processes in five plants. Eurial processes another billion litres, including some 200 m l goat milk, in 14 processing plants.