Méo-Fichaux between tradition and innovation
In Lille, everyone knows the Méo café which has become, over the decades, a real institution in the North. Its story began in 1928. Jules and Emile Meauxsoone, father and uncle of Gérard Meauxsoone, current co-managing director with Dominique Ruyant, opened their first delicatessen in the capital of Flanders. They are among the first French to obtain import licenses for coffees from Brazil. They founded the Méo brand in 1945.
Since then, this flagship of the regional agri-food industry with 34,000 tonnes of roasted coffee per year has built a solid reputation and took on a new dimension in 2012, the year of the merger with the family business Fichaux. “We had known each other for a long time since we were two independent roasters located a few kilometers from each other but above all two family businesses with the same values and the same spirit. Méo wanted to take a step forward, the rapprochement with Fichaux happened quite naturally. says Gerard Meauxsoone.
Both driven by a rich family history, the two northern roasters have joined forces to establish themselves as a major player in the European coffee market. “The objective of the merger was to think bigger for the group and this is the case today. We invested in the capsule market in 2013, a booming segment and above all a perfect example of a project that we would not have carried out alone.insists the co-director general.
“Make the brand shine, but above all my family name»
Arrived two years ago as head of digitalization for the group, Edgar Meauxsoone, son of the current co-director, brings a breath of fresh air to the family group. “Méo has 92 years of know-how, Fichaux 110 years. The group therefore has more than 200 years of experience in coffee, the new generations do not arrive to break the existing but to improve the activity by using in particular new technological and digital tools.“. Edgar Meauxsoone assures us that family DNA is one of the keys to success: “The transmission can only be healthy. As an heir, I work to promote the brand but above all to promote my family name, and that is an additional motivation.“.
This family side is also very much appreciated by employees: “the longevity is very long here and the turnover very low. There’s that little something extra“. This family ETI label also weighs heavily on coffee producers and traders. : “We supply to many countries (mainly in Brazil, Colombia and Vietnam editor’s note)
and the family side builds trust with our international contacts“.
Second French brand of organic coffee
Since the merger in 2012, the Méo-Fichaux group has continued to grow in strength. “It is often said that a family business can be the best thing or the worst thing. In our case, we worked in good intelligence and collective understanding. The objective is for the company to remain under the control of the family without, of course, closing the door to external partners.slips Gérard Meauxsoone. Tenth brand on the market, Méo-Fichaux is up 37% compared to 2021. The northern roaster even gleans second place in the French ranking of organic coffee brands.
Méo-Fichaux has the particularity of adapting to market trends. In the coffee bean segment, a booming market, Méo-Fichaux posted 74% growth. Boosted by double-digit growth for 10 years, the group is launching Kouta, a new brand of organic coffee aiming for a neutral carbon footprint. Beyond 100% recyclable packaging and guaranteed traceability throughout the sector, this brand has the particularity of transporting coffee from Colombia by sailboat to Bordeaux. “15% of coffee is transported by sailboat, we are aiming for 80% within 3 years and 100% within 5 years“. It is difficult today to know whether these ambitions are achievable by 2027.
Extension of the historic site of the Madeleine
Méo-Fichaux (250 employees) deploys its activity on two sites in the Lille metropolitan area, at La Madeleine and in the Bois-Blanc district of Lille. On April 22, the group took care of the new hall on the historic factory of La Madeleine. With an investment amount of €7.3 million, this extension of an additional 5,000 m² will include new lines for grinding and placing ground coffee in silos.
Méo-Fichaux thus signs the last stage of its global investment program of €12 million in its production tool, including in particular the installation of a new capsule packaging line. With this additional line, the industrial rate is accelerating from 500 to 1,500 capsules per minute, or 450 million capsules per year (7% of turnover). The group which places digital and international as strong axes of development serenely foresees the years to come.