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Marion Valley
Published on
Nov. 15, 2024 at 7:40 p.m.
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Rib-eye steak, entrecôtes, cooked beef, cooked roast, rillettes, country pâté, but also yogurt, butter, rice pudding, mature cheeses… The stalls at Rib dish, has Port Saint-Père (Loire-Atlantique)are well stocked.
Retail
This “store” sells farm products at retail. And not just any products! All are prepared on sitein the laboratory and the adjoining creamery, and the meat comes from the eponymous farm.
“Only matured cheeses are made in Saint-Père en Retz, by my brother, Jérôme, who set up on his own,” explains Sylvain Forest, great-grandson of the creators of the operation. A family story.
Since 1945, four generations have followed one another on the farm
In 1945, Henri and Germaine Forest settled in the village of Pilon, in Cheix en Retz. “At that time, the small size of the structures, as well as very limited resources, forced them to diversify their production: wines, wheat, milk, poultry, potatoes…”, underlines the Plat de Côte website.
In 1956, their son Henri and his wife Marie-Joseph joined them on the farm. “With the rapid evolution of the 1960s-1980s, they continued to develop their farm, going from 15 ha in 1950 to 65 ha in 1980.”
François, the grandson, joined them in 1980. They then decided to create a new operating site at Plessis in Port Saint-Père. “This relocation of one kilometer has made it possible to offer interesting prospects for production and breeding in particular.”
In 2007, the arrival of Sylvain, the great-grandson, was decisive for the processing and marketing of the farm's products. “After years of industrialization of agriculture, consumers aspired to a real return of local products. It is in this approach of quality production and short circuits that was born: Le Plat de Côte (a equipment adapted to health and safety rules.”
In 2014, when the second great-grandson, Jérôme, moved in, the farm acquired a dairy processing laboratory. The production of cheese, butter, cream and yogurt was born. “In 2019, Jérôme developed its dairy structure in the town of Saint-Père en Retz. From now on, the cheeses are made on his farm 25 km from Plat de Côte.” As for dairy products (raw milk, raw cream, yogurt, dessert cream, butter and fresh cheese), their production continues on the farm site with the help of cheese factory employees.
The activity, created in 2017 by Sylvain, works well, even very well.
We have 250 customers per week and a turnover of €587,000 on average over three years, increasing 5 to 6% per year. »
A great success that Sylvain attributes to his quality products and to having been able to meet customer demand.
The first in the country of Retz
The idea of setting up this store directly on the farm came to him more than seventeen years ago, while he was in his professional baccalaureate in Haute-Savoie: “The farm where I worked sold its processed products to detail. Here, in Port Saint-Père, we sold our meat in boxes. But we realized that customers wanted to choose their pieces… The idea of vacuum-packed retailing took hold. I think we were the first in the Retz region to set up this type of store. »
But today, Sylvain Forest would like to hand over the reins. “I’ve gotten older,” he says, laughing. “Our store has become too small. We could sell other local products there, like bread, vegetables…”
For our part, if we had to add more products from our farm, we couldn't. Our motto for 60 years in the family has been “Sell our products and produce what we can sell”. »
Since working on the farm, Sylvain Forest has gone from 40 dairy cows and 30 Charolais to 50 dairy and 80 Charolais. “We also produce pork on straw: we have 215 pigs at all times. 400 pigs are slaughtered per year. »
The cows graze on 207 hectares: “80% of my area is grassed. We also produce milk: 300 ml of milk, 50 ml for calves, 100,000 liters for cream and butter, made directly in our creamery, 150,000 liters goes to the Saint-Père dairy. »
Opportunities for communities and catering
Suffice to say that the farmer and his seven all-inclusive employees are very busy. “Today, we are contacted by takeaway brands, who ask us for 230 kg of minced steak per week. There are great development opportunities and real demand for collective catering. »
The farm is also part of the Bienvenue à la ferme network which creates Ferme and Co direct sales stores throughout France, with at least 80% of products coming from members. “The network would like to create one in Loire-Atlantique. »
For his part, the farmer wants to concentrate on meat.
I have always been passionate about breeding. I like to get direct feedback from customers on the quality of the meat. Here, we work it so we see if it is too oily or not enough. »
A rare tool
If the breeder has a lot of ideas to improve and develop this tool that he created from scratch, the price of which is set at 40% of the turnover, he prefers to leave the future buyer free to make his choices and independent.
“For me, the buyer could either be a trader who surrounds himself with a good team for processing, or a meat professional to optimize all the pieces. »
The future buyer will therefore have in his hands a building of 230 m²with the transformation laboratory included, “which is the richness of the tool. And it will be entirely possible to enlarge it. »
Open days at the farm, at Plessis, Port-Saint-Père, Saturday November 16, from 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tel. 02 40 04 87 13.
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