From China to Air France, the incredible success of the Isigny Sainte-Mère dairy
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Isigny Sainte-Mère is first and foremost the story of a small dairy cooperative founded in 1909 by a few dozen dairy producers in Isigny-sur-Mer, in the Bessin region, at the western end of Calvados. Here, Norman cows with brown spots and black-painted eyes graze on the grass of an old salt marsh, which gives their high-fat milk a special flavor. “The notoriety of our products dates back to the 18th century. At the time, all Norman dairy production left from the port of the village. We were already exporting butter as far as Brazil,” says Simon Frileux. But our Norman breeders are not satisfied with this. In 1947, they decided to invest in the first spray-drying tower in France. A technology that produces milk powder in large quantities. This innovation allows them to get started very early in infant milk, and to diversify the activity. In 1980, the cooperative merged with its neighbor in the Channel at Sainte-Mère-Eglise. Hence the current name Isigny Sainte-Mère.
Here, we do not compromise on quality. Witness the 300 prizes won at the General Agricultural Competition, materialized at headquarters by a wall of metal plates: “It's the pride of the company! But the realization was above all the protected designation of origin (AOP), which we obtained after a long struggle in 1986”, relates the DG Daniel Delahaye. This precious label is displayed on some of the dairy's creams and butters. This is the guarantee of a milk rich in fat, since the herd must consist of a minimum of 30% Normandy cows, the others being Holsteins. And all these animals must graze seven months outside on meadows made up of at least 50% grass. When it is fodder, it must come from the geographical area. "Local production, the absence of intensive farming, these are values that are increasingly appreciated by the consumer", rejoices Simon Frileux. A product that the French never tire of. Isigny thick cream saw sales increase by 25% this year, compared to only 8% for the entire segment (1).
So much for the bocage side. But, far from the small farm lost in the middle of the fields, Isigny has a powerful industrial tool, supplied by an incessant ballet of milk tankers. A large white building houses the company's butter, cream and cheese activities. Amid the regular noise of jars banging together, Miguel Mullois, butter and cream assistant, scrutinizes the nozzle that injects the product into the jars: “It's a little runny today. It is a living matter that varies according to the weather, milk or ferments. All products are made from fermented milk. In particular the cheeses which ripen in several rooms of the building. For the butter, an imposing stainless steel endless screw slowly kneads the material to route it through a pipe. At the end of the chain, a little trick gives a more traditional look to the product. A machine more than 50 years old holds the secret of hand-moulded packaging: "The idea is not to end up with a perfectly regular cube of butter." Small mechanical plates fold the paper to give an oval shape and a little more artisanal to the product. The factory is running at full speed. Miguel Mullois would like to be able to push the walls: “Here, we are already at the maximum of what we can do in terms of storage, machines or personnel. We will have to expand!”
But then, the "deposit of milk", as we say here to designate the land, is not extensible. “We are managing the shortage, faced with very strong demand,” explains Simon Frileux. In other words, the brand is in a strong position to impose its prices. A third of the production is sold to creameries and cheese shops, a third to restaurants and bakers, and a third to supermarkets. In this Parisian Carrefour, its fresh cream is displayed at 1.60 euro for 20 centilitres against 0.98 euro for the organic brand of the sign. Like its logo, which has not changed for forty years, a milkmaid riding a donkey under an apple tree, the company's innovations are rare. Last year it launched "festive" creams with foie gras, calvados and morels. “It worked very well during the holidays, especially in the grocery stores or the cut shelves,” smiles Simon Frileux.
To affirm its top-of-the-range positioning, Isigny communicates skilfully. Isigny butter can be found, for example, on Air France business class trays. The dairy is also making media stunts. Last May, the TF1 newscast devoted a portrait to an apprentice baker, winner of the competition for the best butter croissant in Isigny. The company's logo was clearly visible on the work plan... Normal, it is the cooperative that organizes the competition.
In addition to the brand image, the key to the success of the Normans is the famous dairy equation: 1 liter of cow's milk produces 50 grams of butter and 100 grams of skimmed milk powder. This manufacturing residue, depleted in fat, is subject to world prices and therefore not very profitable. The cooperative is one of the first in France, with Guigoz, to have found the solution to valorize this powder. In 1952, it launched into the production of infant milk. The recipe: 25% skimmed milk, to which the manufacturer adds fat, soluble proteins, vitamins and various milk elements. Thanks to this formula, the 100 grams of skimmed milk lost are transformed into a parapharmaceutical product with high added value. "Our margins are as important on infant milk as on cream-butter-cheese, it is the basis of our business model", is satisfied Daniel Delahaye. Modernity has even taken precedence over tradition, since milk powder now represents 65% of turnover, up 17% in 2020.
And this, thanks to the Chinese market! In 2017, Isigny Sainte-Mère exported more than 20 million jars of infant milk there: a product sold on average 45 euros per 900 grams under the Chinese brand Biostime. In 2008, the contaminated milk crisis had led the Asian giant to import massively. Isigny took advantage of this. “But infant milk is a very competitive environment, you have to constantly invest and innovate. I sleep very little, ”explains the boss, still between two planes despite his 72 years. In China, “producers and local authorities have made great regulatory efforts and, little by little, the Chinese are turning again to their domestic production”, explains Guillaume Le Du, agriculture specialist at the newspaper “Ouest-France”. So, to secure this market, Isigny Sainte-Mère brought its Chinese partner into the capital, up to 20%. Biostime is also participating in the financing of the new U3 drying tower which should come into service at the end of the summer.
Labeled products, top-of-the-range infant milk: the promotion of Normandy milk is a delight for breeders. According to the ranking of the magazine "L'éleveur laitier", which compared the prices of 56 French dairies, Isigny Sainte-Mère is the one that pays its farmers the best: 399 euros per tonne in 2020, or even 450 for those who only from Normandy. In Méautis, about twenty kilometers from Isigny, Bertrand and Nathalie Marie show a shy smile in front of their payslip: "It's a little Christmas before the hour, we have just received 30,000 euros in annual bonus from of the cooperative", rejoices the couple of breeders who are at the head of 130 cows.
As he gracefully poses in front of an old milk truck, Daniel Delahaye talks about the future of the cooperative. Since Brexit, the cooperative has lost 40% of its turnover in the United Kingdom, its first European market. This does not worry the general manager, who already exports his products to 40 countries: “There, we are starting to work with African countries, and we are strengthening our presence in the Sino-Asian belt.” In Asia, the French brand and tradition are popular. Isigny Sainte-Mère has thus opened franchise stores in its name in South Korea. A big blow for the boss: "It's a partnership with Hyundai, we are in a beautiful shopping center with neighbors like Dior or Chanel." The best.
Numbers
Its infant formula feeds tens of thousands of Chinese babies
A specialist in infant milk, Isigny feeds 2.5 million babies worldwide every day. Its first outlet: China, where it is associated with Biostime, the country's sixth largest player. To secure this market, the cooperative brought Biostime into its capital for 20%. The Chinese is also participating in the financing of the new drying tower which will soon come into service.
(1) Source: IRI - CAM P3 data as of March 7, 2021
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