Surrounded by many Champagne-producing customers, Jean-Pierre Floris, chairman and CEO of the Verallia group, inaugurated the Oiry plant’s new installations on Friday, March 24.
Over €20m has been invested in completely modernising the production capabilities for this industrial site which makes bottles for the Champagne and sparkling wine market.
With this investment, Verallia, an industrial corporation wholly dedicated to glass packaging, pursues its world-class manufacturing strategy focused on optimising the quality of its products and services, as close as possible to its customers.
Champagne producers are indeed looking for diversified, premium quality ranges to showcase their products.
The plant’s furnace has been completely rebuilt, and its five production lines modernised.
The Oiry site, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2015 and employs 160 people, produces 550,000 bottles a day.
Since it was founded in 1975, Verallia’s Oiry plant has specialised in so-called “carbonated” products (Champagne, sparkling wines, ciders, etc.) and large-capacity containers (3L – 15L).
The site thus manufactures the whole range of Champagne bottles, from quarts (20cl) to the Nabuchodonosor (15L).
Jean-Pierre Floris, Verallia’s chairman and CEO, declared: “The Champagne bottle is certainly the most demanding glass bottle in terms of quality, and we take pride in being the leader on this market.
“This investment enables us to offer better quality, better design capabilities and better customer service”.
The new installations also considerably improve the working conditions for the plant’s teams.
More than 15% of the total investment package was actually earmarked to meet this objective with a special focus on work station ergonomics and lighting.
Over 200 people attended the inauguration of the site’s new installations: customers, local community representatives and Verallia’s two equity funds - Apollo and Bpifrance.
