Page 51 - Biorefinery 2030 Future Prospects for the Bioeconomy (2015)

18 1 Unique, Multi-generational Development: A Lesson in Forward Planning

frozen foods, catering and branded products) enabled the group to return its milling
activity to profitability.
The maize processing sector began to develop in Champagne in 1965, but
expanded significantly in 1973 with the building of a maize plant in Pringy by
PROVIDENCE agricole. This purpose-built agro-industrial plant opened up excel-
lent outlets for the cooperative (maize grits for brewing and livestock feed). In
1982, to facilitate future developments, Jacques de Bohan formed a partnership for
maize processing with other local cooperatives known as “Champagne Maı ¨s”
(which today has become Kalizea, a subsidiary of VIVESCIA and the owner of a
maize processing plant in Poland).

2.4.3 Agricultural Cooperatives and the Sugar Sector
In the 1930s, farmers in Champagne who grew sugar beet obtained high yields, but
received little support from the sugar manufacturers. They gave no contracts or
payment assurance, and commercial relations were tense, because the conditions
were often unfavourable to the farmers. Near Reims, the existing factories
(at Fismes and Attigny) had insufficient capacity for production to be developed.
In 1946, three farmers involved in the cooperative movement (Robert Mangeart,
Maurice Pre ´voteau and Georges Ruinart) persuaded Andre ´ Ferte ´, a farmer and
distiller in the Aisne de ´partement, to set up a new distillery as a limited company
in Bazancourt. The distillery was converted into a sugar factory in 1950, but the cost
of the conversion led to bankruptcy for the firm. To maintain sugar production,
which was very important for local farmers, the original three farmers decided to
transform the company into a cooperative, obtained the required bank funding and
obtained the support of the growers, who decided to take financial responsibility for
the operation.
The economic situation in the 1960s was the same for sugar beet farmers in the
Cha ˆlons and Aube areas. Thanks to the initiative of an exceptional leader in the
cooperative movement, Alain Delaunoy, and to the commitment of several
100 growers, a new sugar factory was built in Arcis-sur Aube by the ‘Syndicat
d’Inte ´re ˆt Commun Agricole’ union (SICA), made up of farmers and industrials.
The two sites developed significantly by increasing and diversifying their pro-
duction, and by investing heavily in research and marketing. In 2000, to survive in
the context of globalisation, the two sites merged as a new structure: CRISTAL
UNION, a cooperative agro-industrial group that today processes around 40 % of
French sugar beet production (sugar, ethanol, alcohol and natural antioxidants with
high value added). This group has a strategy of permanent growth, and is increas-
ingly establishing itself as a world player in the production of sugar, pulp, alcohol
and ethanol.
Thus, at the end of the 1980s, the Champagne Ardenne region was equipped with
two organised sectors, cereals and sugar beet. Each of these was strong enough to
implement their own development strategy, but, through a number of joint
initiatives, they led a joint strategy for the development of the region’s cooperative
movement.