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Interview with Laurent DEVERLANGES, Director of Neuvic Caviar

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The COVID-19 crisis came at a delicate time for Neuvic’s Caviar,as the opening of its first restaurant in Bordeaux was scheduled for April. An opening finally took place in July, at the Passage Sarget in Bordeaux, in the same room as his shop.

A crisis that has a profound impact on sales

The crisis has a profound impact on the company’s sales,a third of which is with wine merchants and restaurants. These establishments, which were closed during the confinement, could not place an order… Indeed, Caviar de Neuvic works in partnership with Bordeaux restaurateurs who put caviar in their dishes throughout the year.

At the same time, the company has seen internet sales grow, but this has not been able to fill the revenue gap related to sales of other channels. The stores where Neuvic Caviar is sold also account for a significant portion of the company’s revenues. They were closed.

Laurent DEVERLANGES is also having an international impact on the crisis. Indeed, its Caviar is exported to the world, especially in Asia, Japan, Thailand and Singapore… That drains almost half of the sales made exports.

With border closures and containment in many countries, sales have slowed sharply. For export, caviar is consumed mainly as a restaurant. As a result, orders have suffered the same vagaries.

caviar spoon gold silver tasting
Caviar suffers in particular from the closure of restaurants as well as that of the borders.

A slow-motion, but daily activity

However, production activity continued for the Neuvic estate. Indeed, sturgeons need to be monitored daily, with very strict hygiene measures for all employees. Of the approximately fifty employees, only fifteen benefited from partial unemployment, for childcare or for the commercial part, in the absence of the possibility of travelling abroad. The priority is also to be able to preserve its employees,by adopting all necessary measures.

During the confinement, the company chose to help health professionals in need by donating masks, to nurses, EHPAD, retirement homes, independent paramedics from Neuvic. More than 10,000 masks were donated.

The more we show solidarity,the more we can collectively hope to emerge from this crisis

The resumption at the end of the first containment already makes it possible to draw the first observations: the year 2020 is a year in half-tone, with a very reduced activity. In April 2020, the company reached 40% of its turnover in the same period the previous year. In May, at 55%, and in June, 75%. Statistics that are slowly rising, but which will have an impact on the next months of Neuvic’s Caviar.

A real loss of sales for Neuvic Caviar

During this period, Laurent Deverlanges estimated the loss of his company’s turnover at 1.1 million euros. Despite assistance on the cash advance by the BPI, itwill take nearly three years to return to normal activity.

In this type of industry, you have to be more demanding to be able to reach more people rather than just focusing on one type of client or being on a single facet of the business.

A second containment, however, promises to be catastrophic for many professions, including the trades of mouth and tourism. The latter sector is one of the poles that have the most difficulty to start again, as is exports.

However, being close to Bordeaux is a positive. From a gastronomicpoint of view, caviar finds its place on Bordeaux tables, especially great restaurants. The setting in which the boutique and caviar’s first restaurant in the region, in the heart of the Bordeaux Golden Triangle, operates is also ideal.

The restaurant offers an accessible menu that offers a real excursion around caviar. Privatization is also possible, on one floor for business meetings, up to sixteen people. This offer allows you to combine business and fine dining with an exceptional product…

Thus, to rebound after the COVID-19, Laurent Deverlanges plans to maintain andaccelerate his development program. It plans to open more restaurants in France, increase its production and develop hospitality for tourism. These projects are planned by 2023, with an investment of up to two million euros.

In this difficult situation for many professionals, if one can, it is in these moments that we must act and invest.

Source: Neuvic Caviar

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