Founded in April 1992, Cabinet Boyer celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. The company’s adventure begins with Patrick Boyer, with20 years of experience in Delta Cereals cooperative in Camargue as director of the Rice Department.

He decided to stand on his own two feet and opened a brokerage company specializing in his favorite field, with Marilyne Mille-Legrand at his side:

“I’ve seen the company grow over time. There was a first diversification with the purchase of a customer file for oils. Then Patrick Boyer, by personal convictions but also because the demand was growing, made the decision to specialize in the organic sector. It was 1997 and that’s when Carole joined us.

We were pioneers so I was able to follow the evolution of the market. At first, it was a small world where we all knew each other, then the sector grew, also bringing more opportunities. »

Marilyne, what are your missions within the structure?

“My job is to take care of the administrative management of the firm as well as to manage the execution and logistics of contracts. I take care of a lot of things at the same time but that’s what I like about my job. Even after thirty years I don’t get bored! »

For Valérie Bernier, who arrived in 2012, it is the recent events: covid and the war in Ukraine that are the most striking:

” Despite the lockdowns imposed by Covid, and the complications of managing imports from India, we have never stopped working. It is rather from 2021 that the effects were felt.

We have noted a clear slowdown in the execution of ongoing contracts due to lower sales at our customers. We had to negotiate postponements with our suppliers, sometimes a little reluctant because of the rise in prices.

Regarding the War of Russia against Ukraine, like everyone else we are suffering the repercussions. Even if we do not work directly with these countries, some of our suppliers are concerned. This impacts deliveries to our customers, not to mention inflation that even lives for everyone. It is clear that these two situations highlight the setbacks of globalization. »

After the departure of Patrick Boyer in 2019, it was only natural that Carole Mineo took over the torch.

After 25 years with the company, she too has had to adapt to the new constraints related to Covid, and innovate to keep in touch with its customers:

“As in many sectors, I think there will be a before and after Covid.

During periods of lockdowns and restrictions, many fairs were cancelled and meetings between customers and suppliers, especially foreigners, had become impossible!

It was necessary to make up for these missed appointments, which are always rich in terms of information exchange and sharing.

We therefore took advantage of this somewhat “timeless” period to develop our website and set up the emailing of newsletters so that, even thousands of kilometers away, our partners could stay informed about what could happen on the markets.

We try to do our best to ensure that this new communication tool allows our readers to have quality content. »

Carole, how do you see the future of the Company?

“We want to remain faithful to our 3 areas of predilection that are Rice, Oils and Organic Cereals for which we have between 25 and 30 years of expertise.

90% of our business is organic and we want to maintain our image as specialists in this field.

French organic production over the years has developed strongly. However, organic sales are starting to show some signs of slowing down after experiencing good years of growth.

Our strength is in our international influence but recently the trend has clearly reversed.

Until now, our customers have been mostly French and our suppliers are foreign. Today, we are increasingly led to turn to export to offer outlets to a French market that is sometimes a little heavy.
This is also the job of a broker, knowing how to anticipate and know how to adapt! »

Article by Thomas Duhaut – Bachelor 3 in Economics and Management – Business and International Trade Management – Aix-Marseille University