Selling Sarthois milk in a short circuit: the bet was bold. Five years after its creation, the Equilait cooperative displays stability and serenity. “The market is there“, confirms its president, David Bourdin. “We keep selling 28,000 to 30,000 liters of milk per week in the department via around fifty supermarkets and grocery stores“, indicates the breeder of Sillé-le-Philippe.
“We took back control of our work”
Eleven Sarthe farmers are part of this adventure. From milk collection to distribution, including packaging, the cooperative seeks to limit the number of intermediaries. “We took back control of our work“, rejoices David Bourdin. “It was we who issued the specifications. Our farms must be low carbon, the fodder must come from our farms and we must use French raw materials, without GMOs“.
“Good relations” with supermarkets
As farmers continue at the end of February their arm wrestling with large retailers over the selling prices of their products for next year, Equilait maintains good relations with supermarkets. “The approach is completely transparent in terms of price. It’s very easy to chat“, testifies David Bourdin. Five years after the establishment of this Equilait cooperative, the economic model allows the farmers who are part of it to live. “There is no photo“, summarizes its president. “In the head too, it feels good. It helps us get up every morning“, he adds. Ditto for the loyalty of customers who “play the game“, estimates the Sarthois, by paying their milk a little more expensive than that of the competition.
Soon packaging per ten liters
In the spring of 2022, Equilait will continue its development. “We are going to launch the packaging of our milk by ten liters, intended, above all, for collective catering“, announces David Bourdin on France Bleu Maine. “For example schools to incorporate milk into mashed potatoes, desserts or sauces. With one liter bricks, it had become complicated“, explains the president of the cooperative.