Portrait: Mickaël, machine operator at Pouliquen

Slightly dishevelled hair, laughing eyes and a composed manner that doesn’t fool his colleagues — Mickaël is one of the pillars of the shallot and onion packing operation at Pouliquen. With the company for fourteen years, a machine operator for twelve, he practically grew up in the vegetable packing trade — shallots and potatoes first and foremost, almost literally.

Packing: a family trade

Mickaël is from Santec, a few kilometres from the Pouliquen site. Before joining the company, he learned the trade of packing shallots and potatoes alongside his father. “The same thing as here, but less modern. All done by hand,” he says with the easy smile of someone who has watched things evolve.
When the family business closed, Mickaël didn’t hang around. He worked for a time at a company in Morlaix before signing a permanent contract with Pouliquen in 2012. At school, he had earned a vocational qualification in accountancy — “it never appealed to me” — but his desire to work with his hands never wavered. He left school at 19 with no regrets, and has had none since.

At the heart of the packing workshop

Today, Mickaël spends 80 to 90% of his time on the machines: feeding the shallot and onion nets, applying labels, managing the laser systems, sorting, traceability.
Over the years, he has learned to cover every position in the packing workshop. A versatility built naturally, through contact with his colleagues and the demands of day-to-day work. Dealing with machine breakdowns, stepping in on the loading side, lending a hand to the vegetable team when the pace demands it — it is this human network, between him, Jean-Marc V.*, his partner on the machines, and Johan, responsible for loading and palletising, that keeps the shallot and onion packing operation running smoothly through the seasons.
Passing on the right techniques to new arrivals is also part of his role. Machines, traceability, the rhythm of the workshop: benchmarks that take time to acquire.

At Pouliquen, like at home

Fourteen years with the same company builds a bond. “I’m comfortable here,” says Mickaël. “I spend almost more time here than at home.”
Home, as it happens, is a permanent project — in the best sense. Renovations, the garden, chickens… The former basketball player has swapped the court for the lawnmower and the wheelbarrow.
Rooted in his corner of Finistère, solid at his post, conscientious: Mickaël is one of those quietly reliable employees who keep a business running. At Pouliquen, we know the value of his work and his commitment. Thank you, Mickaël.

*There are two Jean-Marcs in the team.