Logistics: Essential to Dammann Frères

“With continuous growth (€48 million in revenue in 2024), we have now outgrown our building in Dreux, says Erika Le Noan, President of tea specialist Dammann Frères. This summer, in 2025, we will inaugurate our new site while remaining in Dreux, our home since 2011, in Eure-et-Loir, just a few kilometers from Paris.” Built by general contractor GSE, the new 26,500 sq m facility will include the headquarters offices and a store (2,500 sq m), a 10,000 sq m factory for blending and packaging tea leaves, and 14,000 sq m of warehouse space. It will receive BREEAM “Very Good” environmental certification. “The overall area will be more or less the same as that of the current headquarters, but it will be better suited to 10% annual growth and, above all, more sustainable—particularly thanks to optimized energy performance, including an air-to-water heat pump and a building management system. We also used low-carbon concrete for the floor slabs, and photovoltaic panels have been installed on the roof to achieve near energy self-sufficiency,” explains the President of Dammann Frères.

About 1,000 metric tons of tea leaves are received at the facility each year, mainly shipped by sea from Asia (India, China, Sri Lanka, etc.), but also from Africa and South America, to the ports of Le Havre or Antwerp. They are then transported by road to Dreux, home to the brand’s sole factory and logistics center. Strong sales seasonality requires the company to maintain high inventory levels in the second and third quarters of the year, ahead of summer and fall sales. Peak inventory is also linked to Dammann Frères’ practice of generally purchasing an entire lot, rather than requiring its producers to store tea leaves. “We work with around 100 producers, who have become partners, explains Erika Le Noan. Over the years, our experts in the field have forged strong ties with these farmers. They taste the different varieties and select them according to very strict specifications.”

As a mission-driven company since 2023, committed to “cultivating the connection between people and plants for a better quality of life,” Dammann Frères focuses on three core areas: supporting producers in improving the quality of their pesticide-free crops; passing on knowledge through its tea academy, which helps customers consume tea more responsibly; “and finally, we want to be a model company by committing to associations and working on our carbon footprint.”

Designed by Cabinet Matthieu Calvet Architecture, Dammann Frères’ new site will reflect this ambition through the use of materials such as brick, metal and glass, combining tradition with modernity. It will be monitored throughout its life cycle using BIM (Building Information Modeling). The six-hectare site will also feature numerous amenities for occupants’ well-being, including planted patios and an outdoor fitness trail.

At the heart of the facility, once the tea leaves have been received, they are dusted, sorted, blended according to the desired flavors, then packaged loose in tins or placed in tea bags. “Our products are then shipped to more than 70 countries worldwide. They are distributed through foodservice professionals in the café, hotel and restaurant sector, supermarket chains and our approximately 30 stores; we also send them to private individuals who order through our website.”