It is one of the unusual jewels of Breton industrial heritage, which the Mensuel de Rennes has chosen to highlight. Inaugurated in 1912, the Hermitage dairy has had several owners, including the LU biscuit factory in Nantes in 1927. Milk, butter and eggs were then sent there by train to make the famous Petit Beurre. Sold in 1966 to Bridel, it today belongs to the Lactalis group and employs 350 people.
Original architecture
Slate roof, square tower… This picturesque English style reminds us that the United Kingdom was traditionally an important customer for the export of Breton butter. The factory also included a forge, a foundry, a carpentry, a sawmill, a tinsmith, a laundry and… a pigsty, whose residents consumed leftover biscuits and residue from the fermentation of butter.
Local flagship
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Hermitage dairy produced up to 26,000 liters of milk per day. She contributed to making Ille-et-Vilaine the leading dairy department in France. From 1968, L'Hermitage began making real Breton Camemberts molded with a ladle. The Normans are strangling themselves!
Resistant Director
During the Second World War, one of the directors of the dairy, Eugène Allanic, made his dairy a base for the resistance. Arrested by the Gestapo in February 1944, he was deported to Ravensbrück where he died. A primary school is named after him.
France
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