As he paves way for the new president, Franchineau had this to say “I would like to thank all professional and institutional partners with whom we continued to develop Demain la Terre. I am pleased to hand over to Geoffroy Cormorèche who is in an excellent position to help the company meet its expectations.”
On the other hand, Cormorèche, confirmed his commitment to ensuring the company meets its goals. “My objective is to ensure continuity within a new dynamic and with a developmental approach and awareness,” he said. He will work alongside Marc De Nale who has been the Association’s Chief Executive Officer since February 2015.
The list of products certified by Demain La Terre has also expanded after beetroot grown by SARL Cormorèche got a nod from the association.
The charter can be obtained after an audit by an independent organisation and is validated by the Process Control Committee, a procedure that gives it its credibility. Some of the other products certified by Demain la Terre include apple, peach, melon, tomato, condiments, berries, carrots and leeks.
Demain la Terre, established in 2004, currently brings together 8 mid-size fruit and vegetable agricultural companies, united around a common agricultural and sustainable development vision, combining environment / biodiversity, economic and social values.
Currently, the volume of fresh fruits and vegetables certified by the company stands at over 120,000 tonnes. The company’s production area is 200ha. According to Marc, as much as the association acts as an umbrella body for the member companies, each company is responsible for their sales as they all deal in different products.
“Demain la Terre is a certification monitored by the eponym Organization. It’s hard to sell all the products directly to one buyer in the stores, so we organise promotions at the point of sale on behalf of the companies and this can be done anywhere around the world, even though, so far, this is happening only in French stores,” explains Marc.
From Marc’s point of view one of the advantages that comes with being a member of Demain La Terre is the certification, as certified produce tends to have an edge at the market compared to the competition. He adds that the first certified product by Demain La Terre went to the market in 2011.
According to Marc, Demain La Terre’s has three main sustainability pillars which are environment, economy and social responsibility. “We provide three kinds of service to our members namely technical support: in this we help producers manage their waste, energy and water consumption, our main goal is improving biodiversity. We also come up with communication and marketing campaigns/strategies and this is where the sales promotions come in. On the other hand, as we have been certified as a research centre, we provide training to our clients in all aspects when we deem it appropriate,” notes Marc.
For more information:
Marc De Nale
Demain la Terre
[email protected]
www.demainlaterre.org