🎓 Career & Training

• Can you tell us about your background? What training did you follow?

“I have a somewhat atypical background! I started my training with a BAC F3 in electrical engineering, then a BTS in electrical engineering. My goal was to work in industry, but as I progressed in my studies and over the course of the internships, I realized that I didn’t like this world, I wanted more human contact.

Already at that time, I was working in the summers as a seasonal worker at Sicoly. I then left to do my military service. When I came back, I worked a little in commerce, as a sales representative for a few months. But I didn’t like the itinerant side, so I went back to Sicoly as a seasonal worker. At that time, within the cooperative, there was a wave of retirements among the staff. That’s when Gérard, the production manager, offered me the position of receptionist-aggregator. It was Bernard, the accreditor I succeeded, who trained me in the field, through the transmission of his knowledge. Then, I was able to benefit from more technical training thanks to the CTIFL. »

• Did you know this environment before? Have you always wanted to work in this field?

“Coming from, in the broad sense of the term, a family of farmers, I have always known the agricultural world but not at all the profession of aggregator. I was more familiar with the jobs in the field, in the orchards or on the farms, but not much about the jobs in the resort like here. As I never thought of working in this environment and to find out if this position would suit me, I started by working one summer with Bernard. It was with him that I learned a lot and that’s how I got to know this job. »

🌾 The job on a daily basis

• What does your job as a receptionist-agranger consist of?

“To put it simply, I have to receive the fruit parcels delivered by the producers and make sure that their fruit complies with the criteria expected by the cooperative. These criteria can be quantitative (weight, volume, etc.) but also and above all qualitative criteria (maturity, sizes, etc.). »

• What does a typical day look like as an Associate at SICOLY?

“I don’t really have a typical day, my work works more by season. In the middle of the season, from May to October, my job is really focused on receiving and approving fruit. Whereas from November to April, I turn more to the functions of warehouseman/forklift operator in support of the technical service. For example, I will take care of taking out the substrates or plants for the producers.”

For the approval part, it should be noted that at Sicoly, the producers deliver twice a day. Each time, I have to receive the packages. For each delivery, the producer must fill in an approval grid book with various elements (name, day of picking, nature of certifications, etc.). I have to check that everything has been completed and that the information is correct. Then, I get down to sampling: depending on the volume received, I check about 10 to 15 trays (ripeness of the fruit, aesthetic aspect, etc.). I enter this data electronically. Finally, I take care of the weight control: I check the minimum and maximum weights and make sure that the results are in line with expectations. If the fruit is compliant, I validate the receipt. Otherwise I contact the producer to refuse the goods. Then, I make the packages available to the shipping department so that the fruit can be sent to customers. »

✅ Skills & future

• In your opinion, what human qualities are important for this job?

“I would say that you have to have a strong taste for relationships. You have to be a sociable person, and know how to be diplomatic. ! Especially since, as I like to say, in my job, you are between a rock and a hard place: that is to say, between the needs of the salespeople and the expectations of the producers. It is a constant comparison of several batches: the producer only sees his own batch, so it is up to us, the agcreditors, to provide him with this comparison through the ratings. We have a duty of fairness to all producers Personally, that’s what I like, the relationship with producers, I couldn’t do this job with a logistics platform. Then, you also have to be autonomous to cope with the distribution of the workload, especially in the summer. And finally, you have to be flexible in terms of schedules because in high season, you have to be present 6 days a week and at slightly staggered hours! »

• How do you see the evolution of your job in the coming years?

“It’s hard to say, my job has already evolved so much since I started. At the beginning, the work was more basic, it was more focused on reception. Today, there are more needs, particularly in connection with the quality department and the verifications for the GLOBAL G.A.P. standard. I would say that due to environmental changes, I think it is possible that new certifications or evolutions will be put in place, which could require us to adapt. Customer expectations can also push us to evolve, as can consumption patterns, packaging, etc. IT, dematerialization and connected tools will also change. »