How did you start in this profession ?

After doing a farm technician diploma (poultry option) while alternating work placements, a course in general mechanics and work placements at two farms, including the MaïsAdour cooperative run by Michel Prugue, now president of Inao, I started working on the family farm (50 hectares) at Bressempouy in the Chalosse region (40), when I was 20. My parents initially raised geese (gosling farm), then they started breeding chickens. In 1988, we created an abattoir for our own needs and for other farmers. I was in charge of the slaughtering, procurement and deliveries for about a dozen years.

How did you develop ?

When my parents retired six years ago, my eldest brother Pierre took over the family farm for the farming side and created EARL Dandieu (private limited farming company). For my part, I started up a company called Sarl Dandieu for the purpose of farming, slaughtering and selling poultry. We’ve gone from 400 chickens a week in my parents’ day, to over 6,000 now.  Without counting all the other poultry we produce today, such as guineafowl, cockerel, capon, turkey, fattened hen, Christmas guineafowl, duck, quail, pigeon, Chinese goose, etc. In all it represents about 450,000 fowl per annum on average. Our abattoir covers 700 m2 and I plan to expand it to 1,000 m2.
The company’s turnover grew by 20% in 2008, and 36% in 2009. To be efficient and propose top quality products, you have to monitor and control the chain, from beginning (production) to end (market stall). Before we became known for the quality of our products, our reputation was earned by word of mouth. Our clientele currently includes 150 institutional clients (large and medium sized supermarkets, wholesalers, retailers) and about 5,000 private clients.

How do you work ?

We take delivery of day-old chicks from several local hatchery operators and we feed them by traditional, natural methods. After thirty days indoors, they move to an outdoor grass run, where they are fed a staple of wholegrain maize once they reach nine weeks, plus some soya (GMO-free). They spend most of the time outdoors. We opted to lengthen the breeding cycle for our chickens, to have top quality products that are both leaner, with firmer meat, and a better gustative and organoleptic quality. For instance, we produce a Christmas guineafowl that we raise for two and half months longer than an ordinary guineafowl.

Similarly, we work with the Chinese goose and Christmas fattened hen (poularde), which we raise for 157 days minimum, so it is ready for sale mid-December. We also have a canning facility to make duck foie gras (10 tons a year) and readymade dishes (chicken piperade, poule au pot, coq au vin, pâtés, conserves, etc.). Our products are upmarket and made by traditional methods. Besides our own fowl on the farm, we also take in fowl from neighbouring farmers, selected for their reputation and know-how and who meet our specifications. Chalosse is a region of excellence that produces exceptional poultry.

Do you have a strategy for development ?

We are working on the selection of a very rare, long-cycle chicken (naked neck red) for a better quality meat. We are also looking to develop our clientele, and to do this I’ve recruited a manager, a team leader and a salesperson. I myself followed a course at the management school of the Landes chamber of commerce. Furthermore, we are developing the production of readymade dishes with regional specialties and based on my mother’s recipes. I hired a cook for the purpose, who replicates the dishes with the savours I used to know and like. These dishes are made with fresh produce from our region (poultry, meats, vegetables) that attract consumers looking for top quality dishes.

What do you think of Rungis Market ?

I know Rungis Market because my father-in-law worked there at the time it was built in 1969. I’ve been going there for several years now to sell a good part of our products. I find there a mindset that I want to nurture and develop with my clients, namely professionals who understand and want to promote the products delivered to them. It’s a market that truly has a very great potential and I am wholly satisfied with it.