“We have a simple concept: offering the best quality/price ratio”: the Lidl brand strengthens its position in the Béziers region

Alain D'Amato, community councilor and deputy in Villeneuve-Lès-Béziers, sub-prefect Jacques Lucbereilh, president of the Agglo Robert Ménard and Laurent Oughtdentz inaugurated the new Lidl logistics platform. Diane Petitmangin

La Méridienne's logistics platform covers an area of ​​50,000 square meters. Diane Petitmangin

The warehouse manages the “dry” (rice, pasta, toilet paper) and the bulk (single-reference pallets of water or drinks). Diane Petitmangin

The packaging of the pallets is also automatic. No back strain in sight to film all the packages to be delivered. Diane Petitmangin

L'entreprise recycle 94 % de ses déchets : cagettes, plastiques, cartons… Elle les conditionne et fait appel à des prestataires pour les valoriser. Diane Petitmangin

L’opérateur de la grande distribution, qui emploie 1 900 salariés à la direction régionale de Béziers, inaugurait ce mardi 24 septembre sa seconde plateforme logistique biterroise, d'une superficie de 50 000 mètres carrés.

Lidl has apparently been “the French people's favorite chain of stores” for over 10 years. On Tuesday, September 24, the brand inaugurated its second logistics platform in Béziers. A huge liner located in the ZAC La Méridienne, in Villeneuve-lès-Béziers. The opportunity to come back with Laurent Oughdentz, the regional director of Béziers, on this success story.

Why did you invest in a second logistics platform??

We modernized and expanded the first one, just as we renovated and expanded many of our stores. In 2023, we had the opportunity to acquire this 50,000 m2 platform which will allow us to meet the growing demand of our stores. In the summer, our coastal establishments multiply their sales by two or even five. So we need space to store. When we opened the regional office in Béziers 15 years ago, we had 54 stores, today we have 60.

Impressive shelves where everything is labeled and automated for smoother management. Diane Petitmangin

Is the platform already operational ?

We are already operating 40,000 m2, dedicated to “dry” (rice, pasta, toilet paper, etc.) and “bulk” (pallets of water, for example). And we have 10,000 m2, currently under construction, which will house the frozen food unit and should be delivered in the first quarter of 2026.

How do you explain the good health of the brand and these positive results ?

We have a simple concept: to offer the best quality/price ratio in a local supermarket, neither too big nor too small. In our country, shopping goes very quickly. Before, we used to say “one product, one need”. Now, we have expanded our product range a little. In addition, since 2012, we have implemented an exit strategy from hard discount.

Robert Ménard: “Here, you are on a wine-growing land”

“We had everything to disagree with… and yet, everything is going well”. The president of the Béziers Méditerranée Agglo, Robert Ménard did not fail to recall the distrust he cultivates towards large-scale distribution, which tends to “kill city centre commerce. We need large areas but not to the detriment of retail businesses”.

He agreed, however, that with Lidl, “we can discuss seriously”. He especially hammered home to the regional director of Béziers, Laurent Oughdentz: "Never forget that you are on wine-growing land. Here, our horizon, whether visual, heritage, historical or economic, is the vine!" While expressing his satisfaction at seeing that the brand has removed Spanish wine sold in cardboard cartons from its shelves.

Sub-prefect Jacques Lucbereilh noted "the high quality of the new structure, in terms of construction and the environment", while regretting that the platform is so much of a"land consumer". Above all, he called on "economic and territorial responsibility" Lidl's decision-makers, also stressing, “the importance of viticulture and arboriculture” in Hérault.

He also called for the development “of local sectors with local producers”, the absence “of a low-cost food hub” and insisted on respecting consumer information "to avoid any confusion about the origin of the products", referring to the checks carried out by the DDPP (Departmental Directorate for the Protection of Populations) and the prefect, François-Xavier Lauch in the Lidl supermarket in Saint-André-de-Sangonis. 

How does this translate ?

We have moved upmarket in the products offered, by offering more references. We have highlighted the made in France label because 74% of our food products are of French origin, as are 100% of our beef and pork. We have communicated more on TV, radio and in the regional daily press. And we have gone from 4% market share fifteen years ago to almost 8% today.

What are the prospects for the Béziers region ?

I can't tell you about that because nothing has been finalized… But, for example, we have two stores under construction in Lamalou-les-Bains – we demolished the old store to make a bigger and more beautiful one – and in Perpignan.

The relationships between large-scale distribution and the agricultural world are often tense. What about Lidl ?

We work with the agricultural world. For the past nine years, we have been the only major retailer to be present at the Salon de l'Agriculture. We have set up more than 5,000 tripartite agreements between farmers, manufacturers and us as distributors in order to guarantee fair remuneration.

Is there a drop in average shopping baskets ?

Yes, since the start of the war in Ukraine, we have seen a change in purchases. That is why we launched our 1st price brand and have significantly lowered our prices over the past six months. We are on average 3% cheaper than our closest competitors.

The Lidl brand in figures

PlatformsIt was on June 15, 2009 that the regional management (DR) of Béziers opened its first logistics platform in Béziers-Ouest (Maureilhan road), with a capacity of 30,000 m2, with 140 jobs at stake. In 2016-2017, it was modernized and expanded – it increased to 43,000 m2 – for 35 million euros. In January 2024, opening of the 2nd platform, in the Méridienne commercial zone: 50,000 m2 for an investment of 100 million euros. The two platforms have 415 employees for a total of 1,900 employees at the DR level.
Supermarkets The regional management of Béziers manages 60 supermarkets, for a sector that goes from Sète to Carcassonne, via Castres and Millau and includes the Pyrénées-Orientales. There are 6 in the Béziers agglomeration: two in Béziers, as well as in Sérignan, Murviel, Servian and Lieuran. That is approximately 150 positions.
EmploymentThe brand puts forward the figure of 97% of employees on permanent contracts; the remaining 3% are conditioned by seasonal activity, with a sharp increase in needs during the summer. It also claims 95% of internal development: Sébastien Allefresde, the current head of human resources, confides that he started in sales. Lidl affirms its commitment to disability. In 2019, the brand had 1% of disabled workers; in 2024, it will be 5%.
Packages The platforms prepare 142,000 packages every day and between 2,000 and 3,000 pallets are shipped to supermarkets every day.

Waste 94% of waste (plastics, cardboard, etc.) is recovered, recovered and recycled. For crates, for example, Lidl has a partnership with an integration organization in Perpignan, which ensures their reconditioning. More than a million have been put back on the market with 185 producers in the Perpignan area over the past four years. And 297 non-recoverable tonnes were transformed into wood chips for green spaces or compressed wood for furniture manufacturing.  

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