Danone eyes Perrier, breeders “relieved”, Font-Romeu opens its tracks: the essential news in the region

The essential regional news for this Thursday, December 5. Midi Libre and L'Indépendant

Every evening at 8:30 p.m., find the essential regional news on midilibre.fr.

Perrier could return to the French flag

#GARDAnd if Perrier were to return to French control ? The Swiss giant Nestlé, which has owned it for 32 years, has announced its intention to divest from its bottled water business (which also includes Contrex, Vittel, Sanpellegrino, etc.), which has a turnover of €3.5 billion. According to Le Figaro, this interests Danone, in the event of a sale in pieces. The French group is in fact considering strengthening its mineral water business (Badoit and Volvic), which is showing growth of 9% in 2023 and 5% this year, and the acquisition of Perrier and Sanpellegrino would allow it to get its hands on two great brands. Above all, the sparkling water produced in Vergèze has inevitably lost its value, after its recent setbacks (prohibited treatment, closed drilling wells, drop in production from 1.7 to 1.2 million bottles, etc.), which could allow a lower-cost operation. But, warns Le Figaro, the matter is still far from being settled.

Downgrading of the wolf: breeders “relieved”

#AVEYRON The 49 states of the Berne Convention approved, on Tuesday, a downgrading of the protection status of the wolf, which will go from “strictly protected” to “protected”. A “just satisfaction” for breeders, particularly in Aveyron where they have deplored 210 victims this year, according to Mélanie Brunet, president of the association Cercle 12 which campaigns for better regulation of the predator. “Our goal is to drastically reduce this number, which is between 11,000 and 12,000 victims per year in France, so that breeders and their families can regain the peace of mind to which they are entitled,”reacts Mrs. Brunet. With the new rules, it will be possible to intervene preventively, even in the absence of herds and to no longer be stuck in one position. “On the Larzac, since April, wolf hunters have been trying unsuccessfully to capture a wolf responsible for more than 150 victims. That shows how difficult culling is. This new rule will change everything”.

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Font-Romeu – Pyrénées 2000 opens Saturday

#PYRENEES-ORIENTALES This is an event that the Pyrenean ski resorts do not want to miss. The Purissima holiday weekend, at the beginning of December, is every year the opportunity for the Spanish to hit the first ski slopes of the season. So, despite the lack of snow, the Font-Romeu – Pyrénées 2000 resort has decided to take advantage of the negative temperatures of the last few days to produce artificial snow and open its first slopes on Saturday. “It's a small opening but it's important to get started because a lot of people will be there. We're opening 2, maybe 3 tracks. It will then be easier to expand on Sunday and Monday, when people are there”, confided the station manager Jacques Alvarez to our colleagues at L'Indépendant.

In a wingsuit across the viaduct

#MILLAUThe Millau Viaduct is one of the favourite playgrounds for extreme sports enthusiasts. Despite the ban, many have already base-jumped from the deck, to land by parachute 350 metres below, on the banks of the Tarn. Javi Centeno Gomez and Filip Kubica have done even better. Launching from a paramotor, they crossed the narrow passage of one of the viaduct's pillars at a dizzying speed of more than 150 km/h, flying in a wingsuit, a winged suit. A world premiere, the film of which is creating a buzz on social networks.

Today's figure: 540

#LANGUEDOC This is the number of professionals who depend on the regional company of auditors of Montpellier-Nîmes. The institution, which represents them in Ardèche, Aude, Aveyon, Gard, Hérault, Lozère, Vaucluse and Pyrénées-Orientales, has elected its new president, Steve Amat from Montpellier. Aged 51, he was already at the head of the national company of auditors from 2017 to 2018.

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