Start of beet sowing
The sowing of beet has started in the various beet growing areas, and work is being made easier by the current favourable weather conditions. Despite the constraints linked to containment measures, members of the Group’s cooperative are fully mobilized to plant the crops, with the support of the agro-beet teams, particularly for seed supply and monitoring.
The Group’s beet acreage is essentially stable this year. With regard to the production of certified organic sugar beet, the Group is continuing to develop its surfaces after the fully successful 2019 stage. The major challenge for the year will be to mobilize the local seasonal workforce during the current situation of confinement.
Measures to ensure production continuity
Furthermore, CRISTAL UNION has put in place organisational measures to ensure the supply of sugar and alcohol to all its customers in the retail, food and pharmaceutical industries. All of its production sites and packaging centres are operational.
The employees are also fully committed to the continuity of activities, whether teleworking or working face-to-face in the factories and loading sites, in strict compliance with the barrier gestures to contain the spread of Covid-19.
To meet the demand and the numerous requests, the CRISTAL UNION Group has also decided to stop the production of bioethanol at the Arcis sur Aube distillery in order to redirect its production towards 96° surfin alcohol, labelled BIOCIDAL® and PharmEthyl® (alcohol for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries) necessary for the production of disinfectant and sanitary products.
In addition to these various measures, and in solidarity with all healthcare professionals engaged in the front line in the fight against the Covid-19 coronavirus, our Group has mobilized by donating 4,000 surgical masks to the hospital in Châlons en Champagne, which has re-dispatched them to other hospitals in the region.
Alain Commissaire, Chief Executive Officer of Cristal Union declared: “I would like to salute and thank the tremendous commitment shown by our teams and the members or our cooperative in the field to ensure the continuity of our activity. They have spared no effort to safeguard the production process, ensure high production rates to produce the alcohol needed to manufacture disinfectant products and structure the supply chain for our customers. The Cristal Union Group is fully counting on the support of the regulatory authorities (Ministry of Economy and Finance and Ministry of Agriculture) to help it meet the challenges imposed by this health crisis.”
About Cristal Union:
The Cristal Union Group is one of Europe’s leading sugar and alcohol producers. It is mainly established on the French territory and a significant part of its sales are made abroad. Its organisation and operations are based on the cooperative model. The Group has 2,000 employees and 10,000 members of the cooperative. Cristal Union is France’s leading producer of bioethanol and Europe’s 3rd largest with an annual production of 600,000 m3 on 3 production sites.
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