History

From a hangar to state-of-the-art production facilities…

As stories often begin with "once upon a time ...", we could continue with: "in a little hangar"

Our story begins in 1971, when the current Managing Director, Jean-Marie Cabay, took over the business of Lucien Massaux, a well-known figure within the Charleroi region.

One thing leading to another, the business grew slowly, building on its butter production know-how. Its success with consumers meant that Agral outgrew its production facilities, despite having made changes over the years.

The take-over, in 1998, of the activities of Godefroid-Seron S.A. and its "Les Côteaux" brand, a well-known name among Belgian consumers, gave Agral a boost.

In 1997, Agral began the construction of a production facility in the Courcelles industrial zone. The site was inaugurated in September 1999.

A reduced-fat butter production line was installed in 2003.

The marketing approach, particularly in connection with exports was quickly crowned with success and the business grew from year to year.

In the meantime, Agral obtained I.F.S. (International Food Standard) certification in 2005 and B.R.C. (British Retail Consortium) certification in 2007.

With an annual butter production of over 10,000 tonnes, the construction of new production facilities on the Courcelles site in 2009 doubled the production area.

The new site, which will come on stream at the end of 2010, optimises the circulation of flows within the company and allows a rational approach to energy use. New possibilities in terms of flexibility are available to Agral to write the next pages of its history.