The Derwa wholesale meat-processing company has decided to change its name to Viande de Liège and will benefit from an infusion of 4 million euros from the five-member consortium that took it over in late March. The medium-term investment by the consortium, Belgian Meat Partners, will go towards modernizing equipment and strengthening the firm’s teams, Viande de Liège said Friday in a press release.
Since March, the consortium has given a new impetus to the Liège-based company by making major changes to its board of directors, as well as its management, organization and partners.
"The consortium has also taken a strong decision to change the name of the site in Liège given all the strategic changes implemented in just a few months,” Viande de Liège explained. “This name change, which was quickly adopted, was disclosed first of all to the staff.”
After Derwa was penalised for dubious practices, five companies specialized in meat processing joined together as Belgian Meat Partners and took over the company.
In Autumn 2017, La Vieille Abbaye, a Derwa workshop, had lost its license after failing many tests, but Derwa appealed against the decision in court and won, due to “procedural flaws”. It then obtained the right to continue its activity pending a decision by the Council of State.
The last test at La Vieille Abbaye, conducted in March, was “favourable with remarks”, but the company had earlier sold its pork-products department, whose compliance could not be guaranteed. The main problem had had to do with leftover ham being incorporated into sausages after the expiry date had passed.
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The Brussels Times
