Press release

Délifrance invests in its viennoiserie production site in Romans-sur-Isère

Wednesday 17 May 2023, 09:03

Délifrance, one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of frozen bread, viennoiserie, and patisserie products, has invested more than €10 million in its French viennoiserie production site located in Romans-sur-Isère, with a new 5,400 m² cold store.

Supporting the strong growth of our viennoiserie business

“This investment will enable us to boost our flexibility and improve the operational efficiency of our logistics by doing more direct deliveries to customers, and above all it will enable us to meet growing demand for viennoiserie products from local, European and international customers,” explained the Managing Director of Délifrance Robert O’Boyle.

Following the works, which were completed in March 2023, the site now has space for nearly 12,000 pallets, multiplying existing frozen storage capacity by six in order to cope with the site’s fast-growing production volumes. This is the latest step in a huge transformation for the site, which began with the creation of new production lines in 2016. In total, Délifrance has invested more than €40 million on this site in the past four years, to make it a centre for excellence in viennoiserie production.

A project that is in line with the company’s vision for social responsibility

Faced with the major global challenges of food security, the energy transition, and the transformation of farming and production models, Délifrance is convinced of its key role as a food industry company. Under the impetus of LINK, the new sustainable development policy of Délifrance’s shareholder, grain cooperative group VIVESCIA, the company has developed a new corporate social responsibility plan. This new cold store was therefore designed to generate energy savings through the optimisation of logistic flows that avoid unnecessary transportation, as well as the choice of industrial equipment that recovers waste heat produced by refrigeration systems. As such, this project is fully in line with the ambitions expressed by Délifrance in the “Planet” section of its CSR policy – “Baking Good BETTER” – namely, to limit the impact of its activities on the environment.

A new momentum for Délifrance

These new investments are testament to Délifrance’s dynamism, which after several years of major transformations, in-depth work on operational excellence and a review of its commercial policy, has seen its sales grow strongly despite an economic climate that remains difficult. The company has seen its turnover grow by 30% over the last 12 months, and its bottom line has also significantly improved, enabling new investment in the business with a view to improving customer service levels and increasing its capacity to meet growing market demand for viennoiserie and bread in particular.