Last week, Compagnie Fruitière France welcomed the mayor of Le Rheu to inaugurate the company’s new, modern banana ripening facility in Brittany, the result of a €3.5m investment.
The facility, which is located in the business area of Les Cormiers, on the outskirts of Rennes, measures over 2,600m2 and is split into three sections: a 1,000m2 ripening area with 15 rooms and a capacity of 50 tonnes a day; a 1,400m2 preparation zone for receiving unripened bananas and packing and loading them when ripe; and an office space with eight work stations.
The facility replaces Compagnie Fruitière’s previous Saint-Grégoire installation, and was built in order to respond to strong growth at the company, which already stands as one of the leading fruit producers from the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific region.
“For Compagnie Fruitière, this is a new beginning,” said Arnaud Blanchet, manager of the ripening facility. “We have invested around €3.5m in a new working tool that is flexible and adapted to our growth plans. This new building is also efficient both energy-wise and environmentally, which conforms to our values and expectations.”
In total, Compagnie Fruitière boasts 17 ripening facilities spread across France, the UK, Morocco, Spain and Portugal.
