“New social breakdown at Sodiaal”, “ 316 employees on the floor in the dairy group Sodiaal »… The unions, in this case FGTA-FO and CFDT Agri-Agro, immediately reacted to the exit of a group committee of the Sodiaal dairy cooperative, organized on Tuesday 1er February. On this occasion, management announced two new plant closures, resulting in 316 job cuts. The Campbon dairy (Loire-Atlantique) and the site dedicated to infant ingredients in Saint-Martin-Belle-Roche (Saône-et-Loire) should soon be wiped off the map. The FGTA-FO denounces “ a project that will disrupt the professional and personal lives of many employees, despite their unfailing commitment to serving the group, particularly during the last few years of the pandemic “.
To justify this restructuring, the dairy giant evokes the persistent decline in milk consumption in homes. A structural change that has had a direct impact on the Candia subsidiary. At the start of the health crisis, during the spring 2020 confinement, the French had returned to “homemade”. Quiches, cakes, milk drinks had revitalized a market in continuous decline. The ace ! With the end of confinement, the rhythms of life resumed as before and milk consumption continued to decline.
Sodiaal management hoped to relaunch Candia in 2020, but the hope was short-lived. Anxious to limit sources of loss, the cooperative therefore decided to close one of its factories. The choice fell on that of Campbon, which produces UHT milk cartons and organic milk. Its annual capacity is around 250 million liters of milk. The fact that the dairy collection basin is not in the immediate vicinity of the site may have weighed in the decision. As well as the employment dynamics of this department, while 161 positions would disappear with the closure of the dairy, scheduled for 2023.
“Accelerate the conquest of valued markets”
Candia had already undergone restructuring in 2013 and 2014, with the closure of the Lude factory (Sarthe) and two other smaller entities, in Saint-Yorre (Allier) and Villefranche-sur-Saône (Rhône). In less than ten years, therefore, this brand will have seen its industrial capacity reduced by half. At the end of this new reorganization, there will indeed remain four factories, each with its own specialty. In Saint-Etienne are produced infant milks and fresh milks, in Lons (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), flavored milks, in Awoingt (Nord), bottles and cartons of milk and UHT cream – under the Candia logo and brands distributor – and in Vienne (Isère) the bottles and cartons of Candia milk.
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