14 October 2008 - The construction of French mineral water producer La SA des Eaux d'Alet's new plant in the Aude department has been suspended further to a decision by a court in Montpellier, which will proceed to the examination of a dossier submitted by opponents to the building of the facility.
It is understood that the dossier contains a request to stop the construction as the site is located in the proximity of 17 historical monuments.
The news came only three weeks after Les Eaux d'Alet started construction work on the 3,000m2 facility near its current bottling plant in Alet-les-Bains, Limoux.
A company spokesman told FLEXNEWS in March that the new facility is expected to open as soon in February 2009 if all goes to plan. However, if there are delays in the construction works, the company would only transfer its activities at the end of the summer of 2009, as the mid-March to August period is considered as the company's high season.
Les Eaux d’Alet sold about 12 million bottles in 2007 and is seeking to increase its sales again this year. The company enjoys an established presence in the Midi-Pyrénées region as well as in neighbouring Languedoc-Roussillon. However, the firm is also developing in the Aquitaine region, and to a lesser extent in Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur and in Charentes. In foreign markets, the company has occasional contracts with customers in Sweden and even in the Caribbean Islands, added the spokesman.
Company president Olivier Sadran acquired Les Eaux d’Alet from local dairy products manufacturer 3A in 2005 for an undisclosed sum.
Since then, the company has been injecting between 500,000 and 700,000 euro in marketing, communication and various partnerships, which helped to put the firm back on track after it had been struggling during its previous ownership. Sadran, also president of the Toulouse Football Club, developed a partnership between the club and the 120-year-old-mineral water brand.
The company also jumped on the 2007 Rugby World Cup bandwagon by putting 75cl oval bottles on the market. It also launched 95cl PET football-shaped bottles for the European soccer championships in May 2008.