In New York, one of the American cities most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, Ariane Daguin notes the effects of the health crisis on the activity of her company. His company, D’Artagnan, has lost three quarters of its clientele, made up of restaurants forced to close overnight, but on the contrary it is seeing sales to individuals and online commerce explode. Beating as we know it, Auscitaine is already projecting itself into the post-crisis period. With a challenge: not to lay off any of its 270 employees.
When you have nearly $ 6 million in bad debts, there would be enough, as a business manager, not to fall asleep. For anyone who knows Ariane Daguin, this perilous financial situation gives the signal, on the contrary, of a mobilization and an energy to lift the mountains … or rather the skyscrapers of New York. Because it is in the American megalopolis that the daughter of André Daguin, the late chef of the Hôtel de France in Auch, has built her professional success. This success has a name that is worth all the passports in the world: D’Artagnan. Specialized in high-end agrifood, with foie gras as its flagship, the company created 35 years ago by Auscitaine has been facing headwinds for several weeks, due to the health crisis which brought part of the US economy to its knees.
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Joined Tuesday evening in Union, the city of New Jersey where she installed the headquarters of D’Artagnan and where France 2 came to shoot a report last week for its “8 pm”, Ariane Daguin testifies for “La Dépêche du Midi “:” The situation is unprecedented for the agrifood sector, but also paradoxical. Indeed, producers and breeders are still working but the large slaughterhouses are closing one after the other, as a preventive measure. We have lost almost three quarters of our customers. ” La Gersoise talks about these restaurants which, all over the country, had to close overnight … with the fear for some of never reopening. “Restaurants pay us within 40 to 60 days. These arrears now amount to $ 5.7 million.”
It offers $ 400,000 in food products to charities
This sudden drop in activity results in freezers full to the brim. “We have no more space so rather than throwing away, I just donated $ 400,000 in products to the Soup Kitchens association, which helps people in precarious situations. And the rank of these victims of the crisis continues to grow. In New York, there were 1.2 million disadvantaged people. Today, we are at 3 million, “reports Ariane Daguin. She regrets that Obamacare, the social coverage put in place by former President Barack Obama, has been undermined by the Trump administration.
In 35 years, Ariane Daguin has written a real success story in America with her company d’Artagnan. Gersoise faces a major challenge with the Coronavirus crisis.
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Two weeks ago, like other SMEs, the company d’Artagnan received a breath of fresh air from the federal government in the form of a loan of $ 3 million. An amount equivalent to two months of payroll. “It will help us until the end of June. This loan comes with a moral contract: the companies which benefit from it undertake not to put people on technical unemployment. “. Since D’Artagnan is a big family, Ariane Daguin agrees not to lay off any of its 270 employees … but to motivate them, she had to increase salaries “when it is not too good time”. Because, in these times of crisis, in the United States as elsewhere, work no longer looks like it was before.
E-commerce has jumped 700%
“We no longer have large orders, the ones we used to eat in restaurants, so our trucks remain in the depot. On the other hand, online commerce is exploding. We are on + 700% in a few weeks. Good chicken and beef These are the products that these private customers demand the most. Obviously, preparing these small orders, with all the care you take, takes more time. ” Another corner of blue sky: in-store sales, up significantly. “Grocery stores and caterers remain open, it works well. All of them offer a door-to-door delivery service. Suddenly, companies like FedEx are at their peak. The delivery people are really up to speed.
Ariane Daguin sees a new economic model taking shape when the crisis is over. “We have already reacted, by focusing everything on internet orders and home deliveries. I already know, for my sector, that catering will not come back as before. 75% of New York restaurants could close because of Bankruptcy. Consider that this sector employs 150,000 people in New York. But between the rental of the commercial lease, which is around 20,000 dollars per month, wages and charges, many companies will not be able to recover. will have to reduce their reception capacity and put in place more stringent health measures. ” The boss of D’Artagnan knows that the fate of her company will therefore depend largely on e-commerce. “Everything goes through the algorithms: you have to invest to find names. It’s a kind of funnel: 100 people enter it and at the end, only 3 buy. Your job is to earn tenth by tenth. you get to 3.3 or 3.4, you got it right. “
André Daguin’s daughter feels up to this challenge. “Everything has to be reinvented, but not to be rebuilt”, she repeats, always with the motto of the Musketeers to guide her: “One for all, all for one”.
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