The potting soil manufacturer Evadea modernizes its industrial tool – Le Journal des Entreprises – Loire-Atlantique
With such a common name, Saint-Mars-du-Désert, one would think that nothing grows there. But it’s quite the opposite: the SME Evadea located in this town north of Nantes has made it its specialty for 50 years to produce growing substrates, in other words potting soil. “We are addressing two BtoB markets, explains Guillaume Paszula, the group’s president, who now has 47 employees. On the one hand, professionals, horticulturists, market gardeners, nurseries, and, on the other, distributors who sell our productions. to the general public, such as garden centers or DIY stores.
Each year, 170,000 m3 of culture substrates, i.e. approximately 4 million bags, come off the SME’s production lines. “We have just completed the construction of a new building of 4,200 m2 which required 1.2 million euros of investment, specifies the manager. It will host a new potting soil production line in mid-2024. It will allow us to triple our production capacity for growing substrates.” In the 2018-2024 investment plan, this new line will absorb 3 million euros. If today the company’s turnover reached 18 million euros, the manager is counting on an increase in turnover for the years to come, aiming for 25 million euros by 2028, thanks to this new tool. quality, in production, up to 400,000 m3and in automation and digitalization.”
Strong return to gardening and deconcreteization of cities
The group’s ambition is part of a favorable context where gardening is making a strong comeback among individuals, in the countryside and in the city. “We are also in a favorable period where the revegetation of cities is underway, explains Guillaume Paszula. We are revegetating roofs, car parks, schools. We are removing concrete in the city and planting trees and flowers instead. Individuals green their balconies and terraces, and cultivate their vegetable gardens.
To produce its culture substrates, the company used, among other things, a local peat bog. “But for ten years, the law forbids it, reports the leader. We supply ourselves from the Baltic countries which have vast peat bogs. But we innovate, by developing new substrates based on heather earth, wood fibers, bark and green waste, substitute materials that preserve natural resources.”
This orientation also responds to the very voluntarist and broader CSR approach of the company whose name Evadea means Environment through the promotion of agronomic elements. “We use more and more raw materials produced locally, and from green waste that we value, argues the manager. In addition, our new building will be covered with 2,000 m2 of photovoltaic panels, in addition to the 6,000 m2 that we already have. This green energy produced is reinjected into the network, for the equivalent of the consumption of 375 homes.” Finally, the manager adds: “When we modernize our working tools, it is also for our employees, to reduce the hardship thanks to to more efficient machines.
