Our Strategy

Having grown into a leading Group in France and Europe, Cristal Union is now a strong and resilient player, combining performance with sustainability.

These strengths enable us to anticipate changes in technologies, markets and expectations, while remaining focused on our core mission: unlocking the full potential of the sugar beet

A collective commitment to agricultural decarbonisation

As part of its ongoing efforts to improve agricultural practices, Cristal Union works hand in hand with its farmer‑members, supporting them daily as they adapt their practices and better manage their environmental footprint.

Cristal Union focuses on providing services that are relevant to its members, agronomic expertise, the development of decision-making tools and support for the decarbonisation of farms. These concrete solutions enable us to make a collective commitment and move forward together towards the agriculture of tomorrow.

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An industrial strategy that combines performance and sustainability

Thanks to the expertise, agility and forward‑thinking mindset of its teams, the Group is pursuing an ambitious industrial strategy built around four key objectives:

• Ever more efficient sites
• Ever more agile and flexible sites
• Energy efficiency and decarbonisation (find out more)
• Water autonomy for all sites (find out more)

With a target of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by 23.2% by 2030 (vs. 2019), equivalent to saving 265,000 tonnes of CO₂, Cristal Union is pursuing a sustained and regular investment policy. Every year, €100 million is invested to secure, maintain and upgrade our industriel sites.

A step ahead

From working the soil to product packaging, from manufacturing to delivery, from our governance to th development of our people, we place responsibility at the heart of everything we do. We are committed to combining product quality with the sustainability of our activities, built on trust and transparency.

By valorising 100 % of our raw material, the sugar beet, we save precious resources and embed this commitment at the core of our development strategy. With decarbonisation, water self-sufficiency and products with a low environmental footprint, we are one step ahead and intend to remain so.

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Stable and agile economic management

We know how to adapt our sugar, alcohol, bioethanol and animal feed production to the context, make the right decisions, and respond to needs, and meet the expectations and requirements of our consumers and customers.

With a sound financial structure and an accelerated debt reduction strategy, Cristal Union is well equipped to navigate less favourable market conditions and sharply rising agricultural and industrial production costs.

Together with its cooperative members and employees, Cristal Union is committed to maintaining both agility and stability. In 2024, for example, Cristal Union created a collective equalisation fund to cushion the impact of market downturns on its cooperative members’ remuneration. The cooperative will thus be able, if necessary, to supplement the income of its farmers.