After its restructuring in 2020, Saint Louis Sucre shows growing results deemed necessary to finance the transition to a sustainable sector. The company announces an average remuneration of 50.3 euros per tonne of whole beet at 16° for the 2023 campaign.
“Our 3,750 producers under annual contracts will see their production paid at €50.3 per tonne of whole beet at 16° for the 2023 campaign,” indicates Thomas Nuytten, beet director of Saint Louis Sucre. This is equivalent to €54.08 per tonne at 16° in fixed price. After the closure of two factories in France in 2020, the Südzucker group, owner of Saint Louis Sucre, is posting growing operating income in a buoyant context in the sugar market.
Presenting the company’s strategy in Étrépagny (Eure) on June 25, 2024, Thomas Nuytten underlined the importance of this profitability to finance the developments necessary for sustainability. The sugar beet director mentions: “50 million euros will soon be invested in our factories, including part in the creation of a methanization unit”. The objective is to reduce energy consumption and then initiate a transition towards green energies.
The bet on regenerative agriculture
With 44,000 ha contracted in 2024, the company says it wants to secure prices and areas. Faced with climate change and increasing constraints, Thomas Nuytten adds that “the challenge is to ensure the sustainability of beet cultivation in existing basins”. As part of its CSR (corporate social responsibility) strategy presented in January, the company is aiming for 30% of planters to be certified Regenerative Agriculture or REG AG by 2030.
With this objective, the 80 hectares of land reserve of the Étrépagny factory (Eure) are cultivated with agroecological practices. “For three years, we have been producing technical references (1) and welcoming producers and young people in training to the site,” explains Thomas Nuytten.
Furthermore, in 2023, 300 plots of volunteer producers were the subject of a first assessment of soil cover using satellite imagery. Including beets and intercrops, an average of 229 days was recorded over a year. In 2024, 60 farmers are involved in the support program offered by Saint Louis Sucre. Thomas Nuytten assures: “we will compensate for any loss of income linked to the adoption of low-carbon practices for these planters”.
Claire Guyon Maite
(1) Available on https://www.labetteraveonycroit.fr/
