Groupe Bigard is a French meat processing company. It owns half of all

slaughterhouse A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility. Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is no ...

s in France It processes beef, mutton, and pork. Its best-known brandname in Charal.

Overview

The company was founded as ''Société commerciale des viandes'' by Jean-Paul Bigard in 1968.Company Overview of Groupe Bigard SA
''Bloomberg Business'' It became known as Groupe Bigard six years later, in 1974. The company is headquartered in

Quimperlé Quimperlé (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. Geography Quimperlé is in the southeast of Finistère, 20 km to the west of Lorient and 44 km to the east of Quimper. Historically, it belon ...

, France. It owns half of all slaughterhouses in France.Marie-Josee Cougard
Les abattoirs, un secteur concentré et dominé par le groupe Bigard
''Les Echos'', July 24, 2015 It sells meat under the brandnames of Charal, D'Anvial, Tendre et Plus, and Shems. Its best-known brandname is Charal. As of 2015, Jean-Paul Bigard owns 90% of the company,Jean-Paul Bigard (Groupe Bigard)
, ''Capital'', June 23, 2014 with an estimated wealth of 350 million Euros.
/ref> He serves as the President of the Syndicat National de l'Industrie des Viandes (SNIV) and the Syndicat National du Commerce du Porc (SNCP).

2015 French pork production crisis

In August 2015, both Groupe Bigard and its competitor,

Cooperl Arc Atlantique Cooperl Arc Atlantique (a.k.a. Cooperl) is the largest pork processing company in France. Overview Cooperl Arc Atlantique was founded in 1966.

, refused to accept the price set at the

Marché du Porc Breton The Marché du Porc Breton is a market in Plérin, Brittany, where the price of pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husba ...

Plérin Plérin (; ; Gallo: ''Plérein'') is a coastal commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany in northwestern France. The Marché du Porc Breton, located in Plérin, is where the price of pork is set for retailers across France.

, which is used as the norm across France, on the basis that it was too high in comparison with the price set by other European countries like Germany, where both companies also sell pork.Victoria Masson
Deux importants industriels de la viande boycottent le porc français
''Le Figaro'', August 11, 2015

References

Food and drink companies established in 1968 Companies based in Brittany Meat companies of France French companies established in 1968 {{France-company-stub