The decision fell on Tuesday, February 28. The company “Le Bœuf éthique”, which worked for animal welfare with its mobile slaughterhouse, was placed in compulsory liquidation by the Commercial Court of Dijon (Côte-d’Or).
End clap for The ethical Beef. In recovery since the end of 2022, the company was placed in compulsory liquidation on Tuesday February 28 by the Dijon commercial court. A decision that buries the mobile slaughterhouse imagined nearly seven years ago by Émilie Jeannin, farmer in Beurizot (Côte-d’Or). She chose not to comment on the case. “My condition does not allow me“, she laconically explained, this Wednesday, March 1.
As a reminder, behind this mobile slaughterhouse project, the idea was to build a beef sector that is more respectful of animal welfare. “Finally the first ethical beef in France“, can we even read on Facebook page of the company.
So why this failure? For the president of the Chamber of Agriculture of Saône-et-Loire Bernard Lacour, the economic context has weighed down the initiative. “Farm animal prices have increased. In a context where slaughter costs, the costs incurred are high, that makes for expensive products. And who says expensive products says finding consumers. This model means that profitability has not been there.“
“I’m afraid that everyone loses in this case“, sighs Jérôme Millanvoye. He is a farmer in Arconcey, in the Auxois. A cattle breeder, he had joined the Ethical Beef when it was still only a project. “I thought it was great and out of the ordinary. When I learned of its liquidation, it was a shock. There are a lot of emotions that came up. For me, it’s a huge mess.“
“A huge mess” which results from several months of difficulty. Because barely a year after the big premiere of the slaughterhouse, the company is skating. It is not spared by the resumptions of the health crisis and the explosion in the cost of raw materials The Autun slaughterhouse, which was responsible for cutting the meat, ended up disengaging from the project, dealing another blow to the company.
At the end of December, Le Bœuf éthique also found itself entangled in a controversy, as revealed at the time France Blue Burgundy. Former employees and breeders who collaborated with Émilie Jeannin accuse her in particular of “bad management“. The breeder replies and affirms that the ex-collaborators have actually spied on the company. She even calls on her detractors to relaunch the company… without success.
