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2 Changes in the Environment that made the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery 55

2.3.2 Developing the Value Chain Upstream of Processing
The firms present on the site did not wait to have their backs to the wall to tackle the
problems linked to changes in their regulatory and competitive environment. Well
before the exogenous changes occurred, they implemented strategies to diversify
their activity or internalise more processes.
The firms making up the biorefinery had and have the possibility of moving in
different strategic directions to develop the cooperatives’ activities all along the
value chain: concentration, strengthening different sectors, upstream integration,
downstream integration and internationalisation.
Whilst the actors on the site have to decide on their strategic priorities, it is even
more important to foresee the investment choices and strategic decisions that will
be necessary to develop their activity. From an early stage, the founders of what was
to become the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery were determined to diversify so as
to develop non-food applications for agro-resources. This would give farmers new
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outlets and make them less dependent on public policy.
The foresight and anticipation of the leaders of the site explains how
Bazancourt-Pomacle has evolved over time. Today, the biorefinery covers the
whole of the agro-food industry value chain (c.f. Fig. 2.20).
The different segments of the value chain have been integrated both by firms
specialising in one part of the chain, and by cooperatives involved in several
segments. While historically agricultural cooperatives such as CRISTAL UNION
have been positioned at the centre of the chain, they have invested upstream in order
to innovate and downstream to get closer to the consumer.
Developing upstream of processing has allowed them to guarantee their raw
material supplies and to invest more in R&D (c.f. Fig. 2.21).
These different strategies have enabled the platform to develop and progres-
sively become an integrated biorefinery. There are benefits in this throughout the
value chain, and also for each of the firms present (c.f. Table 2.3).
The above example is interesting, because we can see the increasing volumes of
raw materials and production between 2006, when CRISTANOL was beginning its
activity, and 2011, when this activity was fully developed.
An increase in inputs of 18 % enables production of fermentation substrates for
the production of biofuel to be increased by 173 %. Meanwhile technical starch
production increased by 30 %. There was little or no impact on the production of
food and animal feed.
The ecosystem provided by the biorefinery thus stimulates the production of the
firms present on the site. The steady rise in turnover since 2000 (c.f. Fig. 2.22) for
the whole of the platform is the result not only of the arrival of new companies on

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As an example, the construction of Cristanol foresaw the end of CAP quotas and gave farmers a
new outlet for their sugar beet when prices fell.
Similarly, the development of SOLIANCE was linked to low prices for agricultural crops; it was
necessary to find a more profitable outlet for local farmers’ produce.