Document type : article published on the website of France 3 Bourgogne Franche-Comté website
Author : Auberi Verne
Preview: The axe fell on Tuesday 28 February. "Le Bœuf Éthique", a company working to improve animal welfare with its mobile abattoir, has been placed in legal liquidation by the Dijon (Côte-d'Or) commercial court.
End of the road for Le Bœuf Éthique. The company has been in receivership since the end of 2022 and was placed in judicial liquidation on Tuesday 28 February by the Dijon commercial court. This decision brings down the curtain on the mobile abattoir project dreamed up nearly seven years ago by Émilie Jeannin, a farmer in Beurizot (Côte-d'Or). She has chosen to remain silent on the matter. "My condition does not allow me to [discuss it]," was her brief explanation on Wednesday, March 1.
We will remember that the idea behind this mobile abattoir project was to create a beef industry that showed more respect for animal welfare. "At last, the first ethically-produced beef in France is here", the company's Facebook page still proclaims.
So why did it fail? According to the President of the Saône-et-Loire Chamber of Agriculture, Bernard Lacour, the current economic situation has sunk the project. "Farm animal prices have increased. In a context where slaughtering costs and expenses are high, this makes for expensive products. And consumers have to be found for expensive products. This model has meant that there has been no profitability."
" I am afraid that everyone loses in this affair", sighs Jérôme Millanvoye. He is a farmer in Arconcey, in the Auxois region. As a cattle farmer, he joined Le Boeuf Éthique when it was still in the planning stages. "I thought it was great and out of the ordinary. When I learned of its liquidation, it was a shock. I had all sorts of emotions about it. For me, it's a huge waste."
" A huge waste" that has come out of months of difficulties. For, barely a year after the grand opening of the abattoir, the company has found itself floundering. It did not escape the effects of a repeatedly resurgent health crisis, nor those of the explosion in the costs of raw materials. The Autun abattoir, which was in charge of cutting the meat, ended up withdrawing from the project, dealing the company a further blow.
At the end of December, Le Bœuf Éthique also found itself embroiled in controversy, as was revealed at the time by France Bleu Bourgogne. Former employees and farmers who had worked with Emilie Jeannin accused her of "poor management". The farmer has responded, asserting that her ex-partners were in fact spying on the company. She is even calling on her detractors to relaunch the company... without success.
See other articles on the same subject published in:
- Réussir Bovins viande on March 3, 2023 : Abattoir mobile : le Bœuf éthique en liquidation judiciaire, un éleveur réagit
- Reporterre on March 9, 2023: "C’est une exécution" : le premier abattoir mobile mis à l’arrêt
- Le Figaro on February 28, 2023: L’unique abattoir mobile de France en liquidation judiciaire
