Trad Y Sel
Since the 1970s, sales of most of Guérande salt were carried out by an Association ("Groupement des Producteurs de Sel" or Salt Producer's Association), made up of producers and traders.
At the beginning of the 1990s, the Salt Producers' Association encountered difficulties linked to differences in opinion between its main trader (Les Salins du Midi) and the producers. The Association broke up and a new cooperative "Les Salines de Guérande " (salt works in Guérande ) was created to ensure the sale of the member salt workers' production. The termination of the exclusivity contract between the Salt Producers' Association and the Salins du Midi led to the latter turning to independent salt workers for their supply. They destabilized the chains which had been put in place, then bought the largest companies, such as "La Salorge de Guérande" and "Ets Bourdic".
At that time, independent producers only had three options for selling their salt:
- Sell on their own
-Join the Cooperative
-Sell their production to the Salins du Midi
The other two solutions would lead to the loss of independence for the salt worker, and a difficult choice between two systems: one 'collectivist', supported by the Salines de Guérande cooperative, the other 'capitalist' represented by the Salins du midi Group, variously in the hands of other international salt giants, banks or pension funds.
It is in this context that a handful of independent salt workers chose to follow an alternative route by creating TRAD Y SEL.
