Andros is a French multinational food company, specialized in fruit and dairy products making. The company is based in Biars-sur-Cère, in the Lot department, near the touristic Dordogne region and the city of Brive-la-Gaillarde, Corrèze.
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| Company type | Private |
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| Industry | Food |
| Founded | 1959 |
| Founder |
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| Headquarters | , |
Number of locations | 44 factories (2021) |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Frédéric Gervoson (chairman) |
| Products | |
| Brands |
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| Revenue |  €2.4 billion (2020) |
Number of employees | 10,000 (2021) |
| Subsidiaries |
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| Website | www |
Andros owns more than 40 factories all over the world, including production plants in China, Vietnam, and Virginia, US.
The family-owned company is well known for its long term primary sponsorship of the ice rallycross championship Andros Trophy and French rugby union club CA Brive.
History
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At the end of the Second World War, Jean Gervoson decided to start a jam business whose headquarters were located near Brive-la-Gaillarde, in Biars-sur-Cère in the Lot.[1] In 1971, the Bonne Maman brand was created. In 1976, Andros bought the factory from the company Pierrot Gourmand, a bankrupt manufacturer of lollipops , and used the production sites for the manufacture of sweets.[2]
In 2000, Jean Gervoson left the management of the group and his two sons succeeded him, Frédéric Gervoson, who took over Andros and Bonne Maman jams, and Xavier Gervoson who took over Bonne Maman cakes.[3]
At the end of the 2010s, the group began to shift towards environmental consciousness. In 2018, Andros launched Andros Gourmand & Végétal, a brand of desserts in the fresh section, made from coconut milk and almond milk to act as a low-carbon alternative to classic cow's milk yoghurts. Similarly, at the end of 2020, Andros launched the first recyclable compote gourd.[4]
The Gervoson-Chapoulart family, owners of the group, have a fortune estimated at €1.2 billion in 2017.[5]
Activities and brands
editAndros brands include Andros Chef (gastronomic fruit products for catering); Biscuiterie Saint-Michel, a French manufacturer of cakes and biscuits; Bonne Maman, a French manufacturer of jam, marmalade, compotes, desserts, cakes and biscuits; Buddy Fruits (ready-to-eat fruit snacks); Mamie Nova (yogurts), Pierrot Gourmand (candies) and Solo Italia (frozen desserts). The company represented 19.5% of fruit juices in the fresh section, 47% of jams and even 62.4% of refrigerated compotes in 2017.[6][7]
Biscuits
editBonne Maman and Saint-Michel biscuits are produced by Morina Baie Biscuits, a company owned by Andros. The turnover of this company was estimated at 450 million euros in 2019.[7]
Subcontracting and distributor brands
editThe Andros group also produces frozen yoghurts, marmalades, confectionery, and desserts for large-scale distribution companies such as Carrefour. Andros also produces the filling for Whaou pancakes, Lidl gourds and Picard Yule logs.[7]
Subsidiaries and factories
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Andros have many subsidiaries around the world : Andros Asia in China, Japan and Vietnam; Andros Barker's in Australia and New Zealand after Barker's was bought by Andros and joined the group in 2015; Andros Foods North America in the United States or Los Nietitos in Uruguay for example.[8]
Andros Asia operates three factories (two in Vietnam and one in China which opened in 1999) and distributes its products in eleven countries in Southeast Asia and East Asia.[8]
Andros Foods North America operates a factory in Virginia. In 2012, Andros purchased Bowman Andros Products in Mount Jackson, a leader in private label apple product production since 1939. Old Virginia and Buddy Fruits products are made domestically there.[6]
In May 2022, near the Biars-sur-Cère main factory, Andros opened a new transformation industrial site in Brive-la-Gaillarde, strengthening even more its influence in its native area.[9]
Sponsoring
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Andros invested heavily in sport. The group sponsors the Andros Trophy, an ice rallycross motorsport championship contest held in France since 1990, the Image Club d'Épinal, an ice hockey team, and French rugby union club CA Brive. A locally rooted firm, Andros is one of the most loyal and oldest of the Corrèze club and appeared season after season on the club's jerseys as a main sponsor.[10] The firm appeared on the 1996–97 Heineken Cup winners' jersey when Brive defeated Leicester Tigers in final. Xavier Ric, one of the current Brive officials, worked for Andros. Some former Brive players, like Jean-Luc Joinel, Cédric Heymans or Alain Penaud, work for the company.[11]
More recently, Andros became sponsor of the French National Rugby League, the French Olympic Committee (CNOSF), rugby union club Racing 92 and the 2023 Rugby World Cup.[10]
The firm also operates as a provider and a supplier for all these clubs and institutions, by offering fruit products for the clubs' meals and children games.
Controversies
editIn March 2015, Novandie, a subsidiary of the Andros group, along with eight other companies, was sentenced in a “yoghurt cartel” case[12] for agreeing on the prices of dairy products. They were initially subjected to a fine of 38.3 million euros, but in 2017, the Paris Court of Appeal reduced the fine to 35 million euros.[13]
In 2019, the Andros group was again convicted by the Competition Authority in the "compote cartel" case[14] for forming a cartel with other players in the compote market to co-ordinate price increases. Initially subject to a 14 million euro fine, it was reduced as the investigation noted that "this company had, over the first two years of the cartel, 'disrupted' the operation of the cartel by behaving as a 'maverick' (i.e. by continuing to conduct an aggressive commercial policy to gain market share)”.[15]
References
edit- ^ Bader, Claire. "Le Coup de Jeune de Bonne Maman". Capital. pp. 32–35.
- ^ "La saga d'Andros". ici, par France Bleu et France 3 (in French). Retrieved 2022-06-16.
- ^ "Décès de Jean Gervoson, co-fondateur du groupe Andros". La Voix du Nord (in French). 2018-10-31. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
- ^ "Gourdes recyclables : Andros revendique son avance sur Pom'Potes". www.processalimentaire.com (in French). Retrieved 2022-06-16.
- ^ "Les 500 plus grandes fortunes de France en 2021". Challenges (in French). 2021-07-06. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
- ^ a b "Who We Are – Andros NA". androsna.com. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
- ^ a b c BADER, Claire (2017-10-05). "Les secrets d'Andros, le géant de l'agroalimentaire". Capital.fr (in French). Retrieved 2022-06-16.
- ^ a b "Découvrir notre entreprise". Carrieres.Andros.fr (in French). Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ^ Graziani, Philippe (30 September 2021). "Andros va créer à Brive une usine de première transformation de fruits". France Bleu (in French). Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ^ a b Pommier, Benjamin (26 August 2021). "Quels sont les liens qui unissent Frédéric Gervoson, PDG d'Andros au rugby". La Montagne (in French). Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ^ Cathala, Cédric (30 August 2020). "Un joueur, un métier - Cédric Heymans". Midi Olympique (in French). Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ^ "Lourde amende pour le « cartel des yaourts »". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2015-03-12. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
- ^ "Court of Appeals Document" (PDF).
- ^ "Concurrence : soupçons de cartel dans la compote". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2019-07-09. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
- ^ France, Centre (2019-12-19). "Economie - Andros (Lot) et Valade (Corrèze) épinglés comme membres du « cartel des compotes »". www.lamontagne.fr. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
