[Press Release] One year after its launch, TRANSITIONS goes from strength to strength with 220 new farmers committing to the programme for the next three years
Managed by VIVESCIA and its partners, now with 420 farmers in total, TRANSITIONS is on target to realise its ambition.
The first high-impact programme of this scale in France, TRANSITIONS is thriving.
The President of VIVESCIA Group, Christoph Büren, said: “TRANSITIONS is reaching new heights! TRANSITIONS is innovating and moving forwards thanks to the incredible energy of its partners, the 200 farmers already committed in 2023, and VIVESCIA’s teams. New customers and partners have joined the programme this year, and we have produced the first TRANSITIONS data report, with its four indicators on carbon, soil and biodiversity. 220 additional farmers join the programme this autumn and the continued replication and sharing the programme is testament to its success. Together, we are convinced that everything begins in the fields, and we are determined to rise to the challenge of climate change and biodiversity loss to defend our food processing, energy and bio-economy industries.”
An ambitious and innovative programme looking to build on its first year
TRANSITIONS is a collective effort that brings together upstream and downstream plant and grain industries in a programme that is ambitious and innovative in terms of both its agronomic approach and financing model. The aim is, by 2026, to help nearly 1,000 farmers in North-East France transition to regenerative, productive farming methods that promote soil health and biodiversity, to protect the planet and combat climate change.
200 VIVESCIA cooperative members had already committed to the project for three years, starting with the 2024 harvest, and 220 more will contribute from the 2025 harvest onward.
This year’s highlights include:
- TRAINING and SUPPORT, the key to the transition’s success: In addition to the crucial financial support provided to derisk and reward farmers’ efforts, the technical support provided to farmers is crucial. 38 training sessions devoted to 200 farmers were organised across the cooperative’s territory this year. 40 cooperative technicians followed training courses that will allow them to provide high-level support to farmers with 200 customised action plans.
- DATA MANAGEMENT, the cornerstone of the programme: The first TRANSITIONS data report was produced using a robust dataset provided directly by farmers through Vi@parcelle, a traceability tool produced by Wiuz. This report, which includes indicators on TRANSITIONS’ four foundation agronomic criteria (duration of soil coverage, reduction of GHG emissions, humified carbon return to the soil, and environmental certification (CE2 / CE2+ and HVE) required the analysis of 250,000 data points. Specific greenhouse gas emissions factors for each crop were also reported to each partner customer.
- TRANSITIONS is a FRANCE 2030 prize winner. Officialised by Bruno Bonnell — Secretary General for investment in charge of the France 2030 plan, on 26 February 2024 at the International Agricultural Show —the TRANSITIONS programme will receive €1.9 million in subsidies and advances to train the Cooperative’s technicians, and the farmers involved in the project.
- VIVESCIA Group & UniLaSalle launched a research chair entitled “resilient farms that benefit the climate and biodiversity.” In partnership with the INRAE, this research chair, launched in February 2024, is completely in line with the TRANSITIONS programme and aims to deepen understanding and stimulate innovation in the field.
¹ Compensation for results and progress: on average €100 per hectare per year for level I (start) and €150 for level II (performance) depending on the crops concerned: this premium per tonne of grain exceeds the additional costs of the agronomic measures taken.
The coalition of partner customers continues to grow
TRANSITIONS unites upstream and downstream players in the plant and grain industries, because only a collective solution will enable a successful, large-scale transition of agricultural and food systems.
Avril and its subsidiary Saipol, Roquette, and Tereos – the programme’s first partners – joined by Etea Sédamyl last December, chose to support TRANSITIONS alongside VIVESCIA’s companies, brands and customers, like Grands Moulins de Paris, Malteurop, Délifrance, Kalizea, Francine, Campaillette, and Mademoiselle Desserts.
Last June, VIVESCIA organised a great celebration of innovation in its fields – Les Céréalistes – where Heineken announced that it was joining TRANSITIONS through a long-term partnership with Malteurop.
New commitments to TRANSITIONS in September 2024
Etea Sedamyl, Roquette, and Tereos — alongside VIVESCIA Industries and its subsidiaries Grands Moulins de Paris and Malteurop — have stepped up their commitment to the programme with a pledge to buy additional grain volumes to support the 220 new farmers who are joining TRANSITIONS in the autumn of 2024.
Statement from Roquette: “Roquette, the VIVESCIA Cooperative and its farmers have always worked together with a long-term approach in the spirit of partnership. Naturally, faced with the urgent need to develop more resilient agriculture in France, we are renewing our commitment to the TRANSITIONS programme,” said Xavier Galliot, Head of Sustainable Development.
Statement from Tereos: “As a partner that has been on board from the outset, Tereos has decided to increase its commitment to support the 220 new farmers who join the programme this autumn. Our commitment is on two levels: sugar beet and grain. Tereos has pledged to buy all the sugar beet planted in the context of the programme by its new members for the 2024 campaign. In total, around 60 Tereos beet farmers have joined or will join TRANSITIONS this autumn, and all share the same ambition and sense of stewardship that make them want to pioneer the implementation of regenerative farming practices. Tereos has also signed a maize supply contract and is stepping up its commitment to TRANSITIONS in the context of its starch production business, with another contract to buy grain produced through the programme, and a doubling of TRANSITIONS wheat volumes bought from the 2025 harvest. With this renewed commitment to the TRANSITIONS programme, Tereos is reaffirming its purpose: to cultivate a shared future for people and the Earth, while meeting its inhabitants’ everyday needs.”
The TRANSITIONS programme lead and Director of CSR for VIVESCIA Group, Valérie Frapier, underscores how far the programme has come: “In just one year, we have grown, learned, and reached new milestones at every link in the chain – from farmers to customers and technical partners, as well as our teams. The collective energy and trust is there for all to see. With TRANSITIONS, everyone moves forward together!”
A morning devoted to TRANSITIONS’ farmers was organised on 6 September 2024 at the VIVESCIA village
(at Châlons Agricultural trade fair). At this event, VIVESCIA and HECTAR announced the creation of a demonstrator to present the TRANSITIONS programme, which can be used by all our stakeholders and partners along the entire value chain.
Audrey Bourolleau, founder and president of HECTAR, Valérie Frapier, Director of CSR and Director of the Transitions programme, and Christoph Büren, President of VIVESCIA Group, have signed a three-year partnership agreement to formalise their collaboration .
One of the keys to the success of the TRANSITIONS programme is an in-depth understanding of the challenges and the commitments of the entire value chain, at every level, from field to fork. This includes consumer expectations and a respect for the growth cycle of living organisms. That’s why a demonstrator to present the TRANSITIONS programme is necessary.
It will be designed and installed by HECTAR, on its pilot farm, and promises to be a bespoke, immersive, interactive experience for participants. One of the aims is to help onboard stakeholders from across the value chain through concrete examples of real-life situations. Users will then be able to explore the agronomic solutions VIVESCIA provides to cooperative farmers who are enrolled in the TRANSITIONS programme. They will also be confronted with the technical and financial decisions that farmers need to make in order to transition to regenerative farming practices that are good for the planet, climate and biodiversity.
“The development of the “TRANSITIONS by VIVESCIA” demonstrator on our pilot farm, in early 2025, is a major partnership for HECTAR. Alongside one of the biggest French grain cooperative groups, we want to help educate stakeholders on the issues of decarbonisation and biodiversity within plant and grain industries. We have already had nearly 18,000 visitors since we opened in September 2021, and we are targeting 150,000 visitors by 2030. In this way, HECTAR is fulfilling its role as an accelerator of the social and economic transition to regenerative farming,” explains Audrey Bourolleau, founder of HECTAR.
“HECTAR’s approach is bold, just like TRANSITIONS itself – the first high-impact programme of this scale! The agro-ecological and low-carbon transitions, the role of soil in a farm’s resilience, and the financial equation – these are all complex issues. With its ability to make these issues more accessible, HECTAR will bolster TRANSITIONS’ development. Welcome to our R&D and innovation ecosystem,” said Valérie Frapier, VIVESCIA’s Director of CSR and Director of the Transitions programme.
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