These waves, these are those of a market in constant evolution, open to new things, growth driver for fishing and seafood processing companies, as Sébastien Camus explains to us, President of the Réunier group. Coming out of the Covid storm, the Reunion fishing sector is modernizing to set a course towards a new stage of development.
The European Commission has just authorized France to finance the renewal of fishing fleets in the overseas departments. Does your longline fleet need to be renewed? ?
At this stage, the Commission's authorization concerning Réunion only concerns vessels of less than 12 m, the Réunimer fleet is therefore not affected by these subsidies. Nevertheless, Reunimer is already producing a renewal effort by renovating its ships, Cape Cloe and Cape South. We hope that France will soon be able to notify a tax exemption regime which would allow us to acquire new generation vessels to replace our 13 meter longliners..
The Réunimer group plans to open a new processing plant within two years. For what purpose and what will be the function of this new industrial tool ?
The group has two factories. Réunipêche, primary processing plant which unloads around a thousand tonnes per year of pelagic fish and sends 50% of the volume to export and 50% to the local market. The Creole Fisherman, secondary processing plant, creator of added value : fish refining, skin pack, shellfish cooking, fish rillettes, smoked in slices and blocks, etc. The current space of the secondary processing plant is too limited even though its volumes are increasing each year.. It is therefore necessary to improve the working conditions of the teams by providing more comfort and space to continue the development of the range through an R&D supported. From 2017 to 2020, the factory more than quadrupled its production. It is necessary, by the construction of a new factory, to adapt the workspace to the strong development that the company has experienced in recent years as well as to the objectives that we set for ourselves.
Where will this new factory be located? ?
The Le Pêcheur Créole factory will move and will leave more space in Réunipêche, the primary processing plant. The move will take place within the port area of the west dock, close to our buildings. Production will be able to spread over a space five times larger with, among other things, the installation of a second packaging line for trays and new smoking machines, as well as the deployment of a charcuterie line. The group is also considering developing a range of ready-made meals as well as a number of new products.. Storage space is also provided. Our objective is to be able to double production in the short term.
Is it also about developing the export of frozen products? ?
The vast majority of our stock of frozen fish allows us to anticipate and meet the needs of our secondary processing plant.. We do not intend to develop the export of frozen products from primary processing., quite the contrary, we are on a dynamic of export development of fresh and high value added products from secondary processing.
The Le Pêcheur brand introduced in Reunion Island, two years ago, the skin pack on the market for fresh fishing products in supermarkets. What does this packaging provide and how is it received by Reunion consumers? ?
The skin pack addresses several issues faced by our consumers with traditional fish : simplified packaging thanks to completely airtight packaging ; the guarantee of having fish that retains all its freshness ; no cutting necessary, nor bones and scales. This is a product that facilitates the consumption of fish by minimizing the constraints for people reluctant to consume fish., and more convenient for consumers. Today our skin pack fish can be found in all major retail brands on the island with constantly increasing demand..
How did the Réunimer group weather the Covid storm, between confinement and reduction of air connections ?
During the two years of crisis, 2020 et 2021, fresh Reunion fishing was one of the rare sectors to be able to continue their activity. We were therefore able to keep our boats at sea and our factories open, despite a greater number of days of downtime than in previous years due to logistical disruptions. However, to continue selling in our markets and segments, we had to adapt very quickly. At the height of the crisis, weekly flights were reduced from 28 to 3 to send the same volumes of fresh fish for export. Regarding the local market, our sales of skin pack products have increased sixfold. It is our ability to adapt and redeploy that has made things possible. Lockdowns and curfews had a strong impact on the group's CHR activity. In this case, it is resilience as well as the great capacity of the market to “reinvent” itself by offering takeaways and deliveries., which made it possible to contain the risk and limit the damage. The sourcing of frozen seafood products has, on the other hand, took on the challenge of breakups, soaring raw material prices, approach costs which have exploded, empty containers, etc., through strong reactivity and an intrinsic ability to adapt.
How is the seafood market doing in Reunion Island? ?
The Reunion market is constantly evolving and continually opening up to new developments. 20 years ago, raw fish tartare made its appearance, from sushi maki, gravelax, smoking, cooked dishes of the day and other rillettes, have also become essential. Seafood products are experiencing real popularity among consumers, they are on the rise as demonstrated by our constantly growing figures, around 15% per year.
Le Pêcheur enters the canning market by launching a tuna in oil : is this product made locally with tuna caught by Reunion boats? ?
We strive to introduce new ways of consuming our fish. Indeed, Le Pêcheur Créole launched its latest product, tuna in oil in a glass jar to continue to expand our product offering and conquer new “pucks”. This product comes in eight flavors and the tuna comes from our fishery. This is a whole piece of tuna for raw consumption., as an aperitif, and salad, with pasta, etc. It seems important to us to be able to introduce new products, new ways to consume seafood, and above all to be able to offer “péi” sounding products linked to local production to which we pay particular attention. Tuna in olive oil marks our arrival in the dry products segment, a new step for us and we hope that it will respond to the desire of Reunion Islanders to find more local products on the shelves of supermarkets.
Réunier undertakes an overhaul of its site. To what end ?
Our activities are evolving and, following the new designs of our packaging, it seemed necessary to us to completely review our site. Easier to use, more modern, with more content and more visuals, the new site allows us to better illustrate our professions, to make them more accessible and close to our audiences, to create appetite and suggest desires...taste. This new revisited version is coming very soon. We have also been very active on social networks and have created links and proximity with consumers.
Does the group have a digital strategy ?
We have definitely adopted digital with our Facebook and Instagram page, and we see our number of subscribers evolve regularly and every year. We strive to be able to produce useful content, such as recipes, and to inform our customers about our products when they ask us via messenger or our website. Digital strengthens the bond with our customers and opens the door to a new interactive and direct communication. We particularly appreciate direct dialogue with our customers who are consumers of our products..
How to summarize the position of the Réunier Group today ?
Despite the disruptions linked to the successive crises that the economic world has been experiencing for several years in Reunion, the Réunimer group has always managed to adapt and bounce back to maintain its level of growth. As often, “what does not kill strengthens” and Réunimer knew how to transform constraints into opportunities, mainly in the market for type products “sea caterer”. The investment, generator of employment and value in the territory, remains our priority to continue to make Réunier a unique group in terms of its level of integration in the overseas fishing products sector.
