The French importer-exporter expects its impressive growth of the last five years to continue, driven by the expansion of its operations in Dunkirk and the development of its fresh-cut segment
France’s Omer-Decugis & Cie has posted revenue of €284.8mn for the 2024/25 financial year, up 15.3 per cent from the previous year, an increase the company says was driven by higher volumes.
The performance exceeds both the annual growth target and the €230mn goal set at the time of the IPO. “Five years later, the group has more than doubled in size,” said chairman and CEO Vincent Omer-Decugis, with more than 185,000 tonnes of fresh fruit and vegetables distributed.
“Despite the impact of adverse growing conditions and impaired logistics on high-volume products in the second half of 2024/25 (bananas, pineapples) and the reorganisation of the wholesale division offer, EBITDA rose sharply to €11.9mn, up €5.2mn year-on-year,” the company stated. “As avresult, the EBITDA margin rose 1.5 percentage points to 4.2 per cent.”
Omer-Decugis pointed to the influence of various consumption trends in driving the development of the market, including the shift to plant-based diets and food diversity, demand for food safety and sustainability, and demand for good taste and convenience.
“We address these challenges daily through the upstream value chain integration strategy,” he said, “implementing and monitoring the highest standards of agricultural practices and social and environmental performance, carefully selecting varieties and origins, and leveraging optimised supply chain management tools alongside our expertise in ripening and packaging solutions.”
The company is embarking on a new development plan up to 2030, he added, with the aim of pursuing a profitable and sustainable growth trajectory.
“This strategy will be driven by the strengthening of our upstream capacities and the expansion of our operations, particularly in Dunkirk, which will consolidate our national coverage and provide us with a logistics platform also geared towards international markets,” he explained. “Further, we will develop new growth drivers, especially in the fresh-cut segment, which will complement our offering and become one of the key growth engines of the fresh fruit segment in the future.”
Over the past five years, Omer-Decugis & Cie has consolidated its position in the BPMA (banana, pineapple, mango and avocado) segment, which posted volume growth of over 60 per cent, while expanding and diversifying its fresh fruit and vegetables range.
At the same time, company says it is pursuing responsible growth by securing sustainable supply chains, optimising the energy efficiency of its logistics and ripening platforms, and bolstering the group’s social performance.
“All of the foregoing initiatives will enable Omer-Decugis & Cie to target a near doubling of revenue to €500mn, while maintaining an EBITDA margin in the range of 3.5-4.5 per cent, reflecting the gradual ramp-up of the Dunkirk platform and the launch of the new fresh-cut activity,” the company stated.
