L’Usine Nouvelle: With “Transition”, you presented a program for greening your agricultural upstream practices that is among the most advanced in France, with the objective of hiring 1,000 of your 10,000 cooperators by 2030. Why did you set this milestone?
Valerie Frapier, CSR Director of Vivescia : We had a request. Unlike other cooperative groups, whose economic model is focused on exporting cereals, 85% of Vivescia’s grains are valued within sectors: we are integrated into the industrial fabric and therefore close to our customers who will express their carbon issues to us.
We are changing paradigms: Vivescia is no longer just a commodity company, but a company that sells grains and environmental services, data. A number of our customers, Tereos, Roquette, etc., have strategic thinking that allows us to go beyond traditional commercial links. There is an alignment linked to climate trajectories to 2030. Our program comes at the right time.
What is the additional cost associated with this program?
Christoph Büren, president of Vivescia: This program increases the price of tons by 10% compared to the traditional market. Two comments on this: 10% compared to what we were able to observe during the Ukrainian crisis is nothing. The market can accept it. The other point is that for certain finished products, the price of the agricultural raw material in the final product is low: if you take a baguette, we are talking about 5 cents of wheat. We must remain moderate because this is not the case for all products obviously. But the economic results of the farms will not allow us to succeed in decarbonization and its additional costs without there being an investment by the end consumer. Otherwise, we will not move.
“We set a framework and we deliver data: we move away from the logic of specifications.”
Valérie Frapier, CSR Director of Vivescia
One of the specific features, precisely, is that it concerns the entire rotation of committed cooperative farmers, with a host of associated industrialists since 90% of the program is financed by your customers…
Christoph Bueren: The basis of our thinking is that when a farmer decides to make efforts on carbon, he does so across his entire farm. It is more efficient and more resilient. It also allows us to avoid wondering which crop to attribute the carbon gains to. This is why we are able to provide sums of between €100 and €150 per hectare.
Valerie Frapier: It is a significant investment for the customer. Especially since the agronomic foundation that we have laid down tells them, basically, trust the farmers. We set a framework and we deliver data: we move away from the logic of specifications.
And in the fields, what will this money be used for?
Christophe Bueren: Our farmers have an obligation to achieve results – with a minimum 5% reduction in emissions in three years. This is not a specification, because we provide them with an agronomic base: it is up to them to make their choices, to decide on the solutions they opt for according to their maturity, and it is up to us to support them with technicians. €100 to €150 is the minimum amount to cover the farmers’ efforts.
It’s not the net: they have expenses. They will work differently, introduce legumes into their rotations, deploy plant covers… The more risk there is, the more we pay. The calibration is calculated as precisely as possible so that the farmer has a little value creation. The premium that customers pay is also integrated into the cost of technical support and data management.
As for the transition cost for a reconfiguration of systems towards something that can be described as agroecological, some actors are talking about amounts ranging from €250 to €400 per hectare. Where are you in the decarbonization trajectory with these €100 to €150?
CB : The goal with the program is to have a 20% reduction in emissions by 2030, without integrating the gains related to carbon sequestration. We must not forget that in the various strategies for reducing emissions, at the French or European level, agriculture is not asked to achieve 100% but rather 40 to 50% reduction in emissions.
“The goal is not to make him dependent or not, it is to make the farmer well established in the system”
Christoph Büren, president of Vivescia
The crux of the matter is the evolution of fertilization. What will fertilization look like in a few years’ time on farms that are more than committed to the transition program?
CB : The answer is complicated, there is no one solution – otherwise everyone would have already done it. Putting less nitrogen means lowering yields, so in the end, we gain nothing: I do not want to cite any examples so as not to create controversy, but when we compare different production systems, from the point of view of greenhouse gases, it is better to have the most optimized system possible. We are developing soil analyses, or even the use of satellite images in order to better understand the needs of the plants. We must also move towards innovative solutions, with fertilizers that emit less nitrous oxide, or fertilizers, which currently only exist in small quantities on the markets, manufactured with green energy.
There is also the idea that reconfiguring systems could allow farmers to regain independence, as they are often captive today to a system upstream (seeds, fertilizers, etc.) and downstream. What is the situation?
CB : This idea is, in my opinion, a figment of the imagination; the goal is to make the farmer well established in the system, profitable from an economic point of view, but also from an environmental point of view. Whether he is dependent or not, forgive me, but we don’t really care. What is important is that he was able to have fertilizers that allow him to decarbonize, innovative seeds that allow him to decarbonize, adequate agricultural practices.
For those of you who operate in different markets, how is this subject of ecological transition perceived beyond French and European borders?
CB : Europe is ahead. When we listen to our customers, who like us are SBTi certified, we see that initially this decarbonization will take place in Western countries, therefore in Europe and possibly in the United States.
Vivescia, the key information
4.6 billion euros in turnover, half of which was generated in France
55 industrial sites worldwide
Number 1 in milling in France, with a brand like Francine. Also present in the bakery sector with Délifrance
A leading player in beer, with one in ten beers worldwide made from Vivescia malts
Source: www.usinenouvelle.com
