At a time when Bercy fears that part of the French productive fabric will escape abroad, especially under pressure from the cost of energy and advantageous subsidies, some companies do not give in to the siren songs. This is the case of Pioupiou & Merveilles, which has been manufacturing soft toys since 2006 and has carried this name since 2011. Founded by a former employee of Toys R Us, Jérôme Duchemin, the box is about to complete its first production year in France. .after more than fifteen years in China.
After a first failed attempt to move to La Rochelle in 2014, it was in the first weeks of 2020 that the company put the idea back on the table. The pandemic forced her to put this reflection on hold, but she took it up again in September of the same year when the cost of transportation skyrocketed.
Import volumes multiplied by ten
For several months, the boss reworked his value chain with his Chinese partner and another French one: the company NP Création. The latter manufactures comfort products for the garden, near Saumur, halfway between Angers and Tours. Jérôme Duchemin manages, among other things, to convince the Asian actor to take over a small part of the production and let his French counterpart complete the process.
Today, China only makes the “product envelope”, which allows 10,000 flat pieces to be stacked in the containers. It is in France that they are filled, shaped, closed with the sewing machine before being dried, blown and then placed on cardboard.
In fact, if the price bin has collapsed in the meantime, the cost of buying in China has appreciated a lot due to the strengthening dollar.
This relocation operation is also of interest due to the strong seasonality of Pioupiou & Merveilles’ activity. Indeed, the latter runs from late spring to late autumn with Christmas in sight, allowing it to complete the traditional NP Création activity that begins after the end-of-year celebrations. “Our counter-season production makes it possible to meet the industrial agenda and limit the additional cost linked to the non-use of the production tool, underlines Jérôme Duchemin. It is also this factor that led to the closure or relocation of several French toy production centers. .”
The complementarity of the two activities has allowed the creation of ten jobs in the five production lines. However, another challenge, now common to almost all French companies, is facing Pioupiou & Merveilles: rising energy prices. From the blowers to the classifiers and the lamps that illuminate the 20,000 square meters accumulated in the 9 buildings, the Maine-et-Loire site is particularly energy intensive.
Greater agility to respond to orders.
Another not insignificant contribution of production close to customers: the ability to supply them more quickly, especially for last-minute orders that stores can place if they anticipate a future shortage for Christmas from the November sales.
If price, quality and availability continue to be the key factors for customers, the latter are therefore increasingly sensitive to the “French” criteria. “It is clearly a success, we met our audience and we continue to broaden our spectrum of distribution, says Jérôme Duchemin. It has practically doubled compared to the period when everything was produced in China, knowing that we were already well represented in stores at that time. moment”. .”
Source: BFM TV
