Birth in the Gard of the world's largest group of wine distilleries

En attendant l'officialisation de l'union entre les deux groupes UDM et GrapSud, le 1er août, les administrateurs qui composeront son futur conseil d’administration se sont retrouvés dans le Gard.

Les groupes Union des distilleries de Méditerranée (UDM), basé à Vauvert, et GrapSud, basé à Cruviers-Lascours, se rapprochent "dans un contexte de crise sévère et profonde de la filière viticole".

The Gard groups UDM and GrapSud, main players in wine distilling in France, are joining forces to create the largest global group in the specialty. Bruno Guin and Denis Mayol, their respective presidents, intend to bring "a common vision", intended for the & quot;implementation of an ambitious partnership project.

This rapprochement takes the form of a pooling of their joint capabilities, in order to "respond as effectively as possible to the needs of the’ all of their members and contributors. It is structured around three major elements. The first: the creation of a union which allows the two cooperatives to "pool their contribution of materials", such as marc, lees and wines.

"Optimize collection logistically"

The goal is "to optimize collection on a logistical level, to rationalize their transformation within the industrial tools of the two groups and to support their valorization through joint marketing". Second effect of the merger: the establishment of "cross shareholdings" within their subsidiary Distillerie Romann and Distillerie du Beaujolais.

The objective is to “develop a strong industrial center in the North East quarter of France, capable of serving the needs of the whole of the wine-growing areas where the two groups are located", namely Alsace, Champagne, Jura, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Massif Central and Savoie. Finally, the third element is the development of "cooperation on the activity of producing rectified concentrated musts". It involves the participation of UDM within Gardovial, the industrial tool of GrapSud based in San Clemente, in Spain.

"Take one more step"

"Historically, our two groups have always had relationships, engaged in synergies, explains Frédéric Guinle, general manager from GrapSud. Today it has been decided to take a further step to join forces. "We are the same profession in a cooperative form, adds Hugues Maignan, general director of UDM. In addition, we have a location very focused on Languedoc.

The crisis facing viticulture has accelerated the rapprochement. "Distillation is undergoing this economic crisis. We must take more structural measures to deal with the grubbing-up plans, which, for us, constitute losses of raw materials", insists the latter. In addition, both groups must respond to environmental issues. "We will better meet the needs of our members in terms of depollution, with 100% recovery of waste from viticulture", continues the first.

No industrial merger

The merger will officially take effect on August 1st. Until then, everyone will have to carry out a necessary consultation with their authorities, who must now decide on this rapprochement. UDM is today the leader in collection in France, with around 110,000 tonnes of marc processed each year. GrapSud processes 65,000 to 70,000 tonnes annually. "At this stage, there is no question of a transfer of the industrial tool, nor of the employees within the new entity", insists Hugues Maignan.