As a forerunner in its sector on agricultural sustainability issues, Cristal Union is accelerating with all its cooperative members.

The 9,000 Cristal Union cooperative members, who grow sugar beet and alfalfa, are in direct contact with the land on a daily basis. They are constantly adapting their practices to better control their environmental footprint. The Group's agronomists are at their side to support them.

The approach is open, with Cristal Union having chosen to evaluate all of its cooperative members, without exception. And the collective results are all there.

– 27.5% greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for agricultural activity between 2019 and 2030
100% of cooperative members certified to the highest standards of sustainability Gold/Silver SAI
100% of cooperative members evaluated in terms of carbon footprint
A significant bonus paid to 700 cooperative members engaged in regenerative and low-carbon agriculture

100% of Cristal Union cooperative members certified Gold or Silver SAI

Since 2015, the Cooperative has set up a reference system, CRISTAL VISION smart sugar beet, which makes it possible to evaluate the agricultural practices of its cooperative members and to certify that they meet the best international standards in terms of sustainability, such as those measured by the sustainable agriculture platform SAI. All Cristal Union cooperative members are now Gold or Silver SAI certified. The Cristal Vision smart sugar beet reference goes even further with, for example, the evaluation of the agroecological practices of its cooperative members.

-27.5% agricultural greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 (vs. 2019)

To achieve its objective of 27.5% reduction in agricultural greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 (vs. 2019), a trajectory validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), Cristal Union has launched an ambitious decarbonisation strategy involving its 9,000 cooperative members.

100% of cooperative members have carbon emissions assessed

Cristal Union has partnered with MyEasyFarm to create an already operational tool to measure the carbon footprint of 100% of its cooperative members. A feature is in development so that each cooperative member can access their own scores and areas for improvement via an online platform.

Beyond the simple report, farmers and the Cooperative are already taking action to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of farms. The levers for action are numerous:

removing soil from up of 80% of the beets prior to loading them into trucks, which makes it possible to considerably reduce the number of journeys necessary between our fields and our sites. Our Group also minimizes the distances travelled between fields and sites located at an average of only 34 km from each other;
the optimisation of fertilisation through the use of plant cover between crops that retain nitrogen from the previous crop to make it available to the next. The Cristal Union agronomic department conducts numerous tests to measure and optimize the impact of this cover: choice of varieties, seedling density, composition of mixtures and pest control potential, etc.
localized fertilisation, with specialised equipment that positions the nitrogen at a depth of 4 or 5 centimetres, as close as possible to the future roots. This technique limits the dispersion of nitrogen in the air and soil and therefore emissions. In addition to this precise positioning, tests are conducted to replace liquid nitrogen, which evaporates relatively easily, with solid nitrogen that gradually releases into the soil and best meets the needs of the plant. These two actions combined reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions by 18-20%.

For the second year in a row, a bonus will be paid to 700 Cristal Union cooperative members engaged in regenerative and low-carbon agriculture

At the end of 2022, Cristal Union launched Amplify®, a commercial solution from its commercial subsidiary Cristalco specifically designed to meet environmental challenges in partnership with its customers: a first in Europe in the beet-sugars-alcohols sector.

Amplify® allows customers to choose between three sustainable farming solutions: agricultural decarbonisation, regenerative agriculture, or both approaches combined. Customers subscribing to one of the Amplify® solutions undertake to pay a sustainability premium on sugar and alcohol, paid in the form of a premium to farmers engaged in these agroecological practices, and over periods of 3 to 5 years. These partnerships provide for regular monitoring and semi-annual evaluations to verify that the environmental objectives set are being achieved.

For the second consecutive year, a significant bonus will be paid to 700 Cristal Union cooperative members engaged in regenerative and low-carbon agriculture.

William Huet Deputy Agricultural Director of Cristal Union
With its long-term investment in R&D and technical tests, Cristal Union has chosen an agricultural decarbonisation approach capable of integrating all its cooperative members, without exception. Our Cooperative also relies on training and the sharing of experiences. Since the end of 2024, a new 18-month training course has integrated each Culture Relations Manager, and farmers from each sector, to work together and conduct reflections to change practices in a personalised way. This collective approach makes it possible to create a link between the farmer, the Cooperative and the technician and to move even faster on the subject of decarbonisation and increasingly sustainable agricultural practices."

Julien Coignac CSR Director of Cristal Union
In 2015, the Cooperative set up a demanding reference system, CRISTAL VISION smart sugar beet, which makes it possible to evaluate the agricultural practices of all its cooperative members. 10 years later, the commitment of all our cooperative members and the Cooperative to agricultural sustainability continues unabated. The tool developed in partnership with MyEasyFarm, which measures the carbon footprint of 100% of our cooperative members, represents a major step forward! We are very proud of that.