From beet to sugar

PARTNERSHIP WITH GROWERS

IN BEET WE TRUST!

Saint Louis Sucre and the growers are linked by a common destiny: no factories without beet, no beets without factories!

Throughout the year, exchanges between growers and Saint Louis Sucre teams follow the rhythm of beet cultivation and factory supply. Sowing, crop development, harvesting, logistics, beet protection… the subjects shared are numerous. At Saint Louis Sucre, “in beet we trust” and we put it into practice, for example through the creation of an information and exchange blog.

The Saint Louis Sucre sugar factories are located in the heart of the most fertile land in Europe. To supply a sugar factory with beet, the pace is sustained: a truck enters, empties its load and leaves every 3 minutes, night and day without interruption, throughout the beet campaign, in compliance with road traffic regulations. Saint Louis Sucre works daily with 2,800 growers. The average supply radius of its factories is around 45 km.

Throughout the year, growers are supported by professionals, the Saint Louis Sucre beet teams: crop inspectors, beet service administrators, logisticians, agronomy department. To assist them in their agricultural practices, from the choice of seeds to soil working techniques, including crop protection, some thirty people are in daily contact with the growers.

The Mont Blanc programme aims at developing productivity from the field to the factory and to encourage the transition of cultivation practices, in order to make the Saint Louis Sucre – growers chain even more competitive. Numerous trials, demonstrations and advice are developed and made available to growers for this purpose. It is also a programme deployed on a European scale, throughout the Südzucker Group.

Saint Louis Sucre and its growers have taken a joint approach to environmental protection and sustainable beet production. These efforts were rewarded in 2016 with the RedCert² certification, which is equivalent to the Silver level of the SAI (Sustainable Agriculture Initiative) platform.