Parfums Christian Dior, Givenchy Parfums and Kenzo Parfums, members of the LVMH group, have announced their strategic collaboration with the Cristal Union agricultural cooperative to improve agricultural practices in the beet sector, the source of the alcohol used in their perfumes.
This year, the three companies are financing a project to support the agroecological transition of 380 hectares of beet crops in the Grand Est region, to produce the equivalent of 45 % of their alcohol needs*.
This project is based on the Indice de régénération, a tool developed and verified by the association "Pour une agriculture du vivant", to assess the agroecological score of farms and support farmers in their progress.
"This collaboration marks an important milestone on the Life 360 program's path towards the regeneration of 5 million hectares of ecosystems. Sugar beet plays a key role in the supply chain of the LVMH Beauty business group. Implementing new, virtuous production models in this sector represents a key step on the road to fulfilling our commitments.says Hélène Valade, LVMH's Director of Environmental Development.
In addition, for a period of five years, LVMH is financing a research and development program with Cristal Union on 12 farms to test new agronomic practices aimed in particular at :
- Reducing nitrogen inputs to beet crops by optimizing plant cover crops.
- Limit the use of mineral fertilizers by increasing the use of organic matter.
"At Cristal Union, we place great importance on agronomic R&D and tailor-made support for our cooperative members as they develop their farming practices. Our collaboration with LVMH, in this new project dedicated to the development of agroecology techniques, is part of this approach".says Bruno Labilloy, Cristal Union's Agricultural Director.
As part of these trials, the three houses will be working with Genesis, selected by the LVMH start-up house and awarded a prize at VivaTech for its tool for measuring soil health and quality. Genesis will be in charge of collecting precise, geolocalized information on soils on a regular basis, in order to assess the impact of agricultural practices on their health and contribution to ecosystem functions.
* Mass balance approach
Cristal Union, at a glance
The Cristal Union group is one of Europe's leading producers of sugar and alcohol. It operates mainly in France, and generates a significant proportion of its sales abroad. It employs over 2,000 people at group level and 9,000 beet-growing cooperators. Its organization and operations are based on the cooperative model.
