“Produce more, better and sustainably”: Thierry Blandinières, director of the agricultural cooperative giant InVivo, confirms his strategy

1 700 personnes présentes pour la convention 2024 du groupe Invivo à Paris, ce mercredi. MIDI LIBRE – VM

“The future begins today” was the theme of the annual convention of the InVivo group, which has 167 cooperatives, and which was recently held at the Palais des Congrès in Paris. InVivo, the largest French cooperative group, wants to move towards carbon-neutral, profitable agriculture that can meet the challenges of food sovereignty.

Invivo is the heavyweight cooperative with 167 member cooperatives located in 39 countries and 15,000 members spread across five continents.

300,000 farmers depend on Invivo

If it does not immediately appeal to the general public who nevertheless drink or eat with Invivo on a daily basis, starting with Lidl's Croustille baguette – recognized as the flavor of the year 2024 -, it is because it is first known to agricultural professionals to whom it sells products, solutions and services, and whose production flow it regulates, for 300,000 of them.

“We sell 200 baguettes per day and per store thanks to our partnership with Neuhauser”, rejoiced the vice-president of Lidl France wearing the famous sneakers in the brand's colors, Michel Biero, who plans to open 50 stores in 2025.

Thierry Blandinières and Michel Biero, vice-president of Lidl France, in Lidl sneakers! MIDI LIBRE – VM

Its four main activities are international grain trading, agriculture, agri-food (malt, wheat and wine), gardening and food distribution or “retail” with brands such as Jardiland, Gamm Vert or Louise bakeries in the north of France.

1st in the top 100 largest cooperative companies

With the acquisition of the agro-industrial group Soufflet in 2021, a key player in the global malt market and specializing in cereal processing, which includes the European leader in bakery Neuhauser, the union of cooperatives has quite simply acquired the status of a global giant, propelling the general manager Thierry Blandinières (and president of the Brive rugby club) in a decade, to the rank of lord of French agriculture.

The takeover then allowed InVivo to reach nearly €10 billion in turnover and 13,000 employees, elevating it to first place in 2024 in the top 100 largest French cooperative companies (National Observatory of ESS France).

If we think of the malt present in beer, at Neuhauser which supplies the 1,600 Lidl stores in France, this gives a more precise idea of ​​the size of the giant that Invivo represents.

In a “gloomy” economic context

Its turnover in 2024 “fell” to €11.7 billion, less than in 2023, a decline linked to the “gloomy” economic context. With an EBITDA of €384.40 million (profit before tax), up €51 million compared to the previous financial year, there is no denying our satisfaction, “in a complex economic context”. “We must restore prospects for a serene future for the French farm!”

“The future begins today” , such was the theme of the group's annual convention which was just held at the Palais des Congrès in Paris, bringing together 1,700 members, partners and employees. “This dynamic is part of our cooperative DNA, the agricultural sector is by nature more resilient because it is more exposed to structural and cyclical hazards”, positive Thierry Blandinières. Jérôme Cailleau, president of Invivo, “as a farmer”, testified to the climate impact at each stage of the crop cycle, “from sowing to harvest”.

A turnover down by €1.3 billion

It is soil protection, “the main working tool”, which is now committed to pursuing greening, within a more “agile”, “readable” organization that provides rapid solutions in the event of unforeseeable difficulties, “such as the Russo-Ukrainian war which had a strong impact on the fertilizer production sector”.

“Our turnover is down by €1.3 billion”, stressed Maha Fournier, Director General in charge of Finance. The Director General pointed out the disastrous impact of the weather on wheat harvests in France, “unprecedented in 40 years”, the drop in the price of “raw materials, wheat and barley”, the “conflict in Ukraine”, “hyperinflation in Argentina and Ethiopia” or the “the erosion of consumers' purchasing power”.

Sudvin, Béziers' subsidiary of bulk wine

The global decline in wine consumption has also hit its Cordier branch hard, the Bordeaux wine merchant that the group bought in 2015 with a view to building a powerful wine division. The Béziers subsidiary Sudvin, a specialist in bulk, should outline a new future “qualitative” for the 600,000 hectoliters collected, to replace the export of bottles that is detrimental to the climate and finances.

Artificial intelligence explained to the world of agriculture monopolized a good part of the convention. AI is one of the keys that opens the door to the 3rd way of agriculture (see box).

One day not so far away, AI will be able to determine, for example, when it is appropriate to harvest, how to use less fertilizer on your plot, via applications that several engineers are already working on in a “digital factory”, but also via a partnership with Microsoft launched in 2019 to stimulate the digital transformation of the agri-food sector. A farmer on board his tractor equipped with a tablet, that's for tomorrow.

What is the 3rd way of agriculture ?

The 3rd way of agriculture is an alternative to conventional agriculture and organic farming. It places producers in a logic of trust and constant progress through obligations of means and results, “capable of feeding ten billion human beings tomorrow”. At Invivo, it also calls upon digital.

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