Celebrating modernization on september 5
on september 5, 2025, we celebrated a major milestone for our dairy sector: the inauguration of the modernization of our belleville-sur-vie creamery. this four-year project reflects our commitment to adding value to the milk from our cooperative members and to sustaining a historic site, the birthplace of the grand fermage brand since 1965.
the modernization of our creamery involved automation and improvement of our production lines, enhanced sustainable performance (water, energy, and packaging management), and better working conditions for our teams. we inaugurated a new tourage butter workshop to meet the expectations of bakery, viennoiserie, and pastry professionals with high value-added products such as aop charentes-poitou butter and sea salt crystal butter from noirmoutier, a leader in large retail.
this project, co-financed by europe and the pays de la loire region, created new jobs and strengthened our local presence. the 150 employees of the belleville-sur-vie creamery were involved from the start, ensuring smooth adoption of the new equipment and the success of this transformation.
The belleville-sur-vie creamery in figures
each year, the site collects 230 million liters of milk from 270 farmers in southern pays de la loire and northern nouvelle-aquitaine. the creamery produces 22,000 tons of butter and 9,000 tons of crème fraîche, marketed under our brands grand fermage, la viette, la conviette, as well as under private labels, in france and internationally.
Tourage butter: technology and expertise serving perfect lamination
the new tourage butter workshop offers a high level of quality for professionals seeking functional butter properties.
tourage butter is a textured butter, produced using a process different from standard butter. thanks to innovative texturing technology, butter crystallization is controlled to provide optimal plasticity, ideal for lamination and puff pastry in viennoiseries and pastries. this butter guarantees consistent quality all year round, a crispy puff pastry, and an authentic butter taste highly valued by artisans and bvp industry professionals. it is available in 2 kg sheets and 5, 10, or 25 kg blocks, in conventional or aop versions, under the grand fermage, la viette, and la conviette brands.
