Image: Maison Gillardeau / FIS

Mericq and Maison Blanc Announce Partnership

FRANCE
Monday, April 15, 2024, 01:00 (GMT + 9)

By joining forces, Mericq y Maison Blanc demonstrate their ambition to offer a unique offering dedicated exclusively to premium seafood products, on the Parisian and international markets.

The two family businesses, Mericq, with the Abadie family and Maison Blanc, led by the Gillardeau family, have sealed an alliance with a common ambition: to unite their expertise to develop in France and promote the know-how of two French players in the international seafood products.

Source: Mericq

Synergies of expertise to offer a unique range of seafood products in France and internationally

Mericq and Maison Blanc share the requirement for personalized customer service combined with a wide range of seafood products.

Differentiating product expertise

The Gillardeau family has managed to elevate their oysters to the rank of an exceptional dish through their appearance, their inimitable taste and their exceptional flesh content. The Gillardeau oyster with its famous “G” engraved on its shell (a unique innovation to control its distribution), has become an emblematic product of the most beautiful Parisian restaurants delivered by Maison Blanc.

For more than 60 years, Mericq has positioned itself as close as possible to disembarkation points: first Arcachon and Saint-Jean-de-Luz, then other ports along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts. André Abadie, President of the group, explains: “The world of tides requires real expertise, precision and rigor. This is why Mericq dedicates itself exclusively to seafood products. The passion for the product and the closeness we have with our customers push us to continually acquire new know-how. ".

With Maison Blanc, Mericq is heading to the capital of world gastronomy by opening its catalog of exceptional products: European blue lobster, langoustine, Bouquet shrimp, clams, fish from French auctions... Thierry Gillardeau, president of Maison Gillardeau, specifies ““With this union, Gillardeau, very single-product, is backed by a leader in the seafood products market to develop its wholesale activity in Rungis by improving its competitiveness and the quality of its sourcing. Maison Blanc and Mericq will pool their logistics resources and their product offering to further increase the satisfaction of their respective customers.”

Serving customers

Maison Blanc maintains close relationships with numerous customers in Rungis and restaurateurs in Paris. The company offers a personalized product offering: depending on the needs of fishmongers or restaurateurs, fish can be filleted, deboned, dehaired, calibrated, portioned and custom packaged, all done by hand by filleters.

Mericq also develops innovative solutions to offer new forms of proximity. A concrete example is the Mericq application which allows professionals to place orders 24/7, according to their needs and know the availability of products in real time. One of the latest new features of this application is inspired by social networks: the “À L’AFISH” news feed. Its ambition is to become the meeting point for seafood enthusiasts. Mericq is thus revisiting the proximity between its teams and its customers while offering a new purchasing experience. Charlotte Abadie-Fillol, Vice-President of Mericq, confirms: “We sought to create a media mixing authenticity and flexibility, so that our visitors can consult, at the desired time, our arrivals and our most beautiful pieces in story, and order in two clicks the products they have before their eyes: a unique remote seafood purchasing experience.”

The objective is to pool this expertise to offer differentiating solutions to clients located in Paris.

Know-how for the export of seafood products

Maison Gillardeau has conquered international markets for several decades. Since its acquisition in 2019, Maison Blanc has been able to benefit from this expertise to develop its commercial presence around the world. Their presence at the Rungis MIN, the leading European market for fresh produce, is also a showcase for exports through the global reach of this market, facilitated by the proximity of airports, motorways and logistics platforms. Today, the Rungis international market supplies 18 million consumers.

Rungis therefore represents a strategic location for developing a partnership between Mericq, a major player in seafood products in France, and the historic company Maison Blanc, backed by the famous Gillardeau oysters: their common ambition is to create a French showcase of the products of the sea premium for export.

With this partnership, Mericq is realizing its ambition to establish itself in Paris and intensify its export commercial presence. Maison Blanc benefits from Mericq's sourcing, logistics and e-commerce expertise to offer a broader range of premium seafood products to all its customers in the Paris region and internationally.

Common DNA, infinite perspectives

Maison Gillardeau, Maison Blanc and Mericq share a common history: that of family businesses who want to come together to innovate and take on new challenges. This merger is, like every external growth achieved by the Mericq Group, above all a story of women and men part of a family trajectory, a story of values and sense of business shared between managers. Véronique Gillardeau confirms “Rungis is a passion. Daily contact with our customers allows us to meet all their needs. This alliance allows us to perpetuate our societies to better pass them on to our children.”

Source: Mericq (Translated from the original in French)

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