2023-09-09 06:00:00
At Colona, producer of emulsified sauces, we are on a bit of a war footing at the moment. Not only have we prepared all the festivities around the company’s sixtieth anniversary (this Saturday at the Château d’Hélécine), but, at the same time, we have just acquired a plot of land in the Waremme zoning, enough to increase from 11,000 to 15,000 m2 of work space.
Post-Covid was an accelerator
There is therefore no shortage of work for this company which, even if it has remained very family-run, has become the largest employer in Waremme. The original sin of Albert Colon, who then only employed his son René in the production cellar (read elsewhere), produced children. “We employ around 250 peopledetails Maxime Colon, grandson of the late René. One hundred and seventy are under contract with us, the rest are temporary workers and workers from the Jean Gielen adapted employment company. But we always emphasize the family side of the business. Post-Covid has acted as an accelerator and we have practically doubled turnover over the last five years. It’s hard to put a stop to growth.”
The company has the characteristic that it is able to bounce back, despite this export context made complicated by the war in Ukraine or by galloping inflation which has caused the price of raw materials to explode. “We are in permanent crisis managementadds Maxime. The prices of our raw materials such as eggs, oils, sugar, etc. have increased significantly and we cannot pass this increase on to our customers. We still remember the thousands of glass jars blocked at the Ukrainian border. And if we stock up on rapeseed oil, it still played tricks on us. Because Ukraine was a big producer of sunflower oil. As a result, many manufacturers turned to rapeseed, which caused demand to explode.”
A predominantly local workforce
The Colons skillfully avoid pitfalls and also constantly seek solutions to improve the well-being of staff. “That’s why we expand when possibleconcludes Maxime. Before acquiring the plot next door, we had to rent buildings. And then, the recruitment of personnel is done in the region, it is also a trademark of Colona.”
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