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PGI — Champagne-Ardenne
Chickens, capons, poulardes, guinea fowl and turkeys reared outdoors on the vast cereal plains of Champagne, fed on cereals and slow-grown for firm meat with roasted, toasted aromas.
Free-range poultry from Champagne-Ardenne, PGI (IGP) since 1996.
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The Protected Geographical Indication 'Volailles de la Champagne' (IG/10/94) was granted in 1996, under the management of the Syndicat Malvoisine. For more than sixty years, the sector has relied on a regional partnership between feed manufacturer Nealia and Les Éleveurs de la Champagne, an abattoir based in Caurel, in the Marne — a collaboration structured around a strategy of quality rather than volume.
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The geographical area of the PGI covers the departments of Ardennes, Aisne and Marne, as well as neighbouring cantons in Meuse, Oise, Somme, Nord, Haute-Marne, Seine-et-Marne and Aube. The poultry here come from slow-growing strains suited to outdoor rearing and are fed predominantly on cereals — an extensive rearing method typical of the region's vast wheat plains.
The Caurel abattoir processes around 200,000 chickens a week, with 60–65% supplied by Nealia, which brings together 70 cooperative farmers, while the remainder comes from other regional marketers. Under the Volailles Champenoises brand, the company Les Éleveurs de la Champagne offers a farmhouse range, 'Fermier de la Champagne', long associated with Label Rouge and recently redirected towards 'antibiotic-free' and 'GMO-free' specifications, alongside a conventional range, 'Le Poulet de ma Région', and a diversification into organic production underway since 2021.
Appearance
Farmhouse table poultry — chickens, capons, poulardes, guinea fowl and turkeys — from slow-growing strains suited to outdoor rearing.
Aroma
Pronounced roasted, toasted aromas, developed through extensive rearing.
Taste
Firm, flavourful meat, characteristic of slow-growing strains fed predominantly on cereals.
Texture
Good adhesion of the meat to the bone, the result of extended rearing on open-air grassy runs.
The PGI covers five types of poultry: chickens, capons, poulardes, guinea fowl and turkeys. The sector's leading operator markets a certified farmhouse range — 'Fermier de la Champagne' — historically associated with Label Rouge, alongside a conventional range, 'Le Poulet de ma Région'.
poultry from slow-growing strains suited to outdoor rearing.
a predominantly cereal-based diet.
extensive outdoor farming on the cereal plains of the geographical area.
an extended rearing period, which develops the firmness of the meat and roasted, toasted aromas.
regional processing, notably at the Caurel abattoir (Marne), which processes around 200,000 chickens a week.
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The firm, flavourful meat of this poultry, marked by roasted, toasted aromas and good adherence to the bone, is particularly well suited to roasting, which showcases the quality developed through prolonged outdoor rearing.
Since: 1996
Area covered: Ardennes, Aisne, Marne and neighbouring cantons (Meuse, Oise, Somme, Nord, Haute-Marne, Seine-et-Marne, Aube)
Key requirements: Slow-growing strains, predominantly cereal-based diet, free-range rearing
The 'Fermier de la Champagne' range, marketed by Les Éleveurs de la Champagne, is presented by the trade press as having a long-standing association with Label Rouge, with part of the PGI (IGP) production indeed managed under this scheme by several farmers in the sector. However, no Label Rouge specification approved in the Journal officiel names the 'Champagne' territory, and neither the official INAO record nor official certification portals link a distinct Label Rouge to this PGI: the Label Rouge referred to falls under national specifications applied by operators in the sector, not a designation specific to the product.
Association
Major company
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Located on the Route de Pomacle in Caurel, around ten kilometres north-east of Reims, the company describes itself as having been founded in 1959 on the initiative of around ten Champagne cereal farmers who wanted to process and market their produce themselves, coming together in the Coopérative Agricole des Fermiers de Champagne (CAFC); the slaughtering, cutting and packaging plant was established in Caurel in 1961. Under the Volailles Champenoises brand, the firm now offers a free-range range under Label Rouge and PGI (IGP), 'Fermier de la Champagne', marketed for nearly forty years, alongside a conventional range, 'Le Poulet de ma Région'.
The company claims a regional partnership of over sixty years with the feed manufacturer Nealia, in which it holds a 45% joint stake alongside Galliance. It states that it is supplied by around 150 local farmers within an average radius of 120 km around the slaughterhouse (Marne, Ardennes, Aisne and neighbouring cantons); about two-thirds of the poultry comes from Nealia's 70 cooperative farmers, with the remainder supplied by other regional market distributors. It employs 200 staff and processes around 220,000 birds each week, dispatching 18,000 tonnes of finished products a year, marketed across the north-eastern quadrant of France to supermarkets, wholesalers and catering services. The industrial facility was modernised in 2021, with improvements to animal welfare according to the company.
With an estimated turnover of between 30 and 100 million euros, it focuses on a strategy of quality and moving upmarket rather than volume, in the face of far more industrialised Belgian competitors.
| Address | Route de Pomacle, 51110 Caurel, France |
| 03 26 50 67 89 | |
| communication@volailleschampenoises.fr | |
| volailleschampenoises.fr | |
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Part of the production is certified organic, since 2020. |
