On the occasion of the Food Trades Day in Alès, the president of the Chamber of Trades and Crafts (CMA), Xavier Perret, spoke on the upcoming issues surrounding the subject.
Objectif Gard: What are the reasons for your visit to Alès this Wednesday?
Xavier Perret: This is an action to discover craft professions among young people. These professions are relatively dynamic and we analyzed that there was room in the Alesian territory to develop crafts. People who turn to crafts to begin training may as well be sixteen years old or in the middle of a career change and decide to change everything. Crafts provide the means to be independent and that makes sense. They choose the ingredients, the raw materials and they do with them what they want. We know that we have many ecological problems, with global warming and the quality of what we eat, this type of profession allows us to act.
The mobile kitchen moved to Alès • Sacha Virga
Today, what does the CMA offer for young people?
We are developing MAF (Best Apprentice in France) competitions, local and regional competitions to allow these apprentices to really measure their level. As these are motivated, hard-working young people who are progressing a lot, we are already starting, on certain CAPs, to already have professional qualities in the professions that we are developing.
Why are these young people becoming more and more interested in crafts?
Already the image of young people does not correspond to what we want to give of them. Some people are behind a computer, it’s true, but others aren’t. We find more and more young people who want to learn with their hands. It’s their way of saying “I act at my level on certain points”. Often it is a natural choice for them, but there have always been young people in all eras who headed towards these professions. I am a carpenter-roofer, carving a frame is fascinating, and it is no less rewarding than being behind a computer. These are technical skills and there is an element of computer science in that.
For the event, the president of Alès Agglo Christophe Rivenq got involved • Sacha Virga
Were you able to chat with the stallholders of the temporary Halles of Alès?
We’re not going to hide, it’s complicated for them but it was written in advance since the Halles de l’Abbaye are being renovated and this creates difficulties for the stallholders. They still have a replacement location, which is already a good thing. It is what it is, it is not necessarily suitable for commercial activity. With the CMA, we have the strategy to develop in Alès, this is not new but we are ramping up to move forward step by step. It is a strategic place which has been a little forgotten in recent years, it takes a little time to take up what has not been done, in agreement with Alès Agglomération and the other EPCIs.
So what are your objectives in the region?
We have premises located in “Pist Oasis”, where we have relay workshops. We are going to develop diploma training courses and all our services for these artisans. In the Gard, we have two large metropolitan hubs and Alès is one of them. I have about 11,000 or 12,000 artisans, we have departments in Occitanie that have half as many and that have a CMA worthy of the name. The ambition over the next five years is to establish ourselves and develop in the Alès basin to offer all artisans the services they need. My working method is first to think before acting.
