The group includes four separate dairy cooperatives, Colarena Presqu'île, la Laiterie Coopérative du Pays de Gâtine, UCAL and Poitouraine, which together include 4,500 farmers from 11 departments in western France.
The cooperative works with more than 900m liters of milk annually from cows, and a further 130m liters from goats on 650 farms.
Soignon brand
Brands include Maestrella, Merci Chef, Bio Nat’, Grand Fermage and Soignon, the biggest selling goat milk product brand in France. Its Sainte-Maure de Soignon log is France’s fourth most-purchased cheese.
Soignon was represented with a large booth at the Salon de l’agriculture held in Paris recently. The event is open to the public and draws huge crowds: more than half a million attended the most recent event, which featured more than 900 exhibitors from 22 countries.
DairyReporter spoke with Eurial’s director of marketing, Nathalie Julia, at the event about the dairy cooperative and Soignon, as well as its product range, which now includes goat milk yogurt and cheeses specifically designed for cooking, was highlighted with a large demonstration area at the Salon event.