The family SME created in the early 1950s now employs 49 people and plans to expand its factory located in the Mitra zone in Saint-Gilles.
For the oldest (or even very old) Cauvin oil mill, it is a small warehouse with a yellow and green sign wedged between Route de Sauve and the extension of Avenue Franklin Roosevelt onto Avenue Pompidou in Nîmes. But that was a long time ago. “Today, the Cauvin company has become a heavyweight on the oil market both in France and abroad”declares Christian Port, the president of the company. With its 15,000 m² factory established since 2017 in the Mitra industrial zone in Saint-Gilles, it stands out, in particular, as the second largest bottler of oils in France under its own brand, just behind the Puget company. “Currently, we market more than 10 million bottles per year of all oils, indicates Stéphane Jullian, the group's general manager. For mass distribution, which only offers edible oils, we produce 50% olive oils and 50% vegetable oils such as walnut, hazelnut, grapeseed or even sunflower and sunflower oils. rapeseed. »
• © Huilerie Cauvin
Diversification of oils
It has now been around twenty years since the Cauvin oil mill chose to diversify. “An offer in olive oil only was not sufficient to consider developing the company on a larger scale. Therefore, we have decided to offer a wider range of oils for large and medium-sized surfaces”notes Karine Voinchet, marketing director. However, the production of olive oils remains a major sector for the Gard company which sells mainly in Spain as well as from a local mill. Organic olive oil, for its part, is imported from Tunisia and also from Spain. As with wine, olive oils are assembled and selected by a jury. For several years, Spain has been the market player with an annual production of around 1.3 million tonnes. “Only in the last two years, due in particular to drought, production has decreased by almost half, which has caused the purchase price to skyrocket, explains Stéphane Jullian. This is why we have created a new product called Oliveol which is a mixture of 80% sunflower oil and 20% olive oil. Until now, it was a way of offering our customers, in this period of high inflation, a quality and financially accessible product. » An economic situation that the Gard company is unlikely to experience this year since a record harvest has already been announced in Spain – we are talking about more than 1.5 million tonnes! – which should lead to a drop in sales prices from spring.
Concerning other oils, the places of production are very diverse, as the director points out: “For nut oils, we mainly source our products from Moldova and California. For hazelnut oils in Türkiye and for sesame oils in Africa and Mexico. »
• © Huilerie Cauvin
Present throughout the country through mass distribution, the family business is also present in the food industry. “Our personalized service allows us to work with international leaders, particularly those specializing in the preparation of ready-made meals, as well as with companies operating more artisanally. » Each year, forty different oils and some 70 references leave the factory. A dynamic maintained in particular by the new products regularly present on the shelves, like, in recent months, the sauces and marinades range.
An American subsidiary
Just six years ago, the Cauvin oil factory began developing its activity in the cosmetics sector. “Thanks to our expertise in vegetable oil, we develop and package quality organic virgin oils using a perfectly controlled process. And currently we supply the biggest cosmetic brands. »
Export is also an axis of development for the management which, for five years, has focused on this sector with today a presence in around fifteen countries including China which is a growing market notably through walnut oils, linen “for infant nutrition”or even a lawyer. “In 2023, we created a Cauvin US subsidiary because we consider that there is a potential market in the USA with development prospects”specifies Christian Port.
These numerous areas of growth are largely due to the creation, seven years ago, of a new factory. This structure, combining modernity and efficiency, has, among other things, a storage capacity of nearly 1,000 tonnes of thermally protected raw oils, a crushing workshop allowing the daily production of 3,000 liters of organic oils, not to mention four lines automated and equipped with a control system capable of conditioning 15,000 liters of oil per hour. Added to this is a quality laboratory equipped with physico-chemical analysis tools which allow internal control of the peroxide level, oleic acidity but also the fatty acid composition by chromatography. “Every day, a jury of ten people carries out organoleptic tastings to select the batches in advance or check the conformity of the oils received”specifies the director. Note that in 2016, the Gard company was the first in the sector to obtain PME+ certification for its CSR (Social and Environmental Responsibility) approach.
The family group, which has 49 employees, has a turnover of nearly €50 million this year. A result which has been on an upward trend for several years now. “We must remember that in 2006, the turnover was barely €4 million, recalls Karine Voinchet. We are targeting €80 million in turnover within four to five years. » Building on this growth and new market prospects, management decided, a few months ago, to expand the factory by purchasing adjoining land. Thus, this new structure should make it possible to accommodate in 2026 on nearly 4,000 m² a storage and shipping unit as well as a production unit spread over 1,000 m².
For the record…
It all began in 1951 when Gilbert Cauvin took over the business of his father-in-law Sauveur Chauvet, a cooper by trade, who in 1930 had launched into olive confectionery before committing to the production of an edible oil in recognized qualities. Five years later, the region suffered a historic frost which compromised the olive harvest and caused the mill to shut down. But that doesn't matter. In order to ensure production, Gilbert Cauvin decides to obtain supplies from other local millers. In 1970, the oil mill turned to the production and trading of other oils which it marketed to professional customers. In the mid-1980s, Gérard Cauvin, Gilbert's son, took the reins of the family business and took the opportunity to visit the Mediterranean region in search of quality products with an atypical taste. In 2004, Serge Filhol took over the management of the company and developed the activity with large retailers at the national level. It is also the year that organic products are put on the market. The Gard company, which celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2021, is today chaired by Christian Port, the son-in-law of Serge Filhol who died in 2018, and its main co-shareholders are Pascale and Patrick Filhol.
