• The agri-food group Le Duff has announced that it is abandoning its Bridor bakery factory project in Liffré, near Rennes.
  • The project, estimated at 250 million euros, was the subject of several legal challenges, which prevented its realization.
  • Opponents denounced the consumption of drinking water, considered excessive.

Opponents are jubilant. The group Le Duff fulminates. On Tuesday, May 30, the agri-food company based in Rennes announced the abandonment of its industrial bakery factory project that it wanted to build in Liffré (Ille-et-Vilaine) for its Bridor brand. Contested by several associations, particularly for its water consumption, the project was the subject of several legal proceedings. "Bridor cannot wait ten years to build a new plant," said the company led by Louis Le Duff in a statement, adding that it was ending the project "with regret for Brittany and its employees".

The Le Duff group began research in 2017 for the construction of a new production site for its industrial bakery products. In full growth, especially in export, the company explained that the continuation of its development required the construction of a new site. The municipality of Liffré, long led by the current president of the Brittany region Loïg Chesnais-Girard, had been selected for the establishment on a site of 20 hectares, of which 6 hectares would have been occupied by buildings and 5 by car parks and loading areas. Several environmental associations had denounced the choice of this plot, which houses a wetland.

Louis Le Duff's big rant

This project, estimated at 250 million euros, aims to "strengthen the current production capacities" of the Servon-sur-Vilaine (Ille-et-Vilaine) and Louverné (Mayenne) plants "which have reached their development capacity", according to Bridor. The group promised 500 jobs. "We have weighed things up carefully, including the government's most recent industrial initiatives. This time scale is incompatible with the growing demand of our customers," said Philippe Morin, CEO of Bridor. In November, the boss Louis Le Duff had pushed a rant. The one who is among the 50 largest French fortunes believed that the slowdown of his project was due to a political quarrel, and citing the names of candidates defeated in the regional elections.

Present in more than 100 countries around the world, Bridor represented in 2019 nearly half of the two billion euros turnover of the Le Duff group, which also owns the Del Arte, La Brioche Dorée and Le Fournil de Pierre brands. It employs more than 35,000 people worldwide.

  • Rennes
  • Ille-et-Vilaine
  • Brittany
  • Bakery
  • Industry
  • Food
  • Protest
  • Factory
  • Abandonment
  • Society
  • Planet