An ambitious development strategy
Our vision
Limagrain's roots are anchored in Auvergne, the homeland of the co-operative's members. From Auvergne the Group has spread its wings to become truly international. The Group's core business, field seeds and then vegetable seeds, is extended through the offer of cereal products.
Internationally, Limagrain develops its business through three activities: Field Seeds (€595 m), Vegetable Seeds and Garden Products (€592 m) and Cereal Products (€259 m). Today, the two seeds activities represent 76% of the Group's sales. Eventually, our aim is to considerably strengthen the Cereal Products activity in order to reach a good balance between the three activities.
Locally, the Co-operative relies on Limagrain Agro-Productions (€108 m) which coordinates all the activities of its members, thus participating in the development of their farms and valorization of their produce. Seed production requires an international dimension and heavy investment in research. As early as 1965, the date a corn breeding station was opened in Aubiat in the county of Puy-de-Dôme (France), Limagrain was devoting 10% of its sales to research. Since then, Limagrain has relentlessly invested, now exceeding this figure to reach 14% of its professional sales today.
In order to work closely with its markets and its clients, Limagrain organizes its activities in fourteen Business Units (BU):
- Five BUs in Field Seeds with Limagrain Europe, AgReliant Genetics (joint venture with KWS in North America), Limagrain Asia, Limagrain Cereal Seeds (world wheat) and Limagrain South America.
- Four BUs in Vegetable Seeds three of which, HM-Clause, Hazera Genetics – Nickerson-Zwaan and Vilmorin have an international scope, and one with a regional scope Mikado Kyowa Seed in Japan.
- Two BUs in Garden Products with Oxadis and Suttons.
- Two BUs in Cereal Products with Jacquet-Brossard and Limagrain Céréales Ingrédients.
- Limagrain Agro-Productions, the BU devoted to the activities of the co-op members.
Limagrain's strategy is ambitious. The objective is to reach sales of close to 2 billion Euros in the medium-term.
For the seeds activity, held by Vilmorin & Cie, the target consists in strengthening its competitive positions and pursuing the international development of its activities. Vilmorin & Cie is the No. 1 seeds company in Europe and No. 4 in the world, behind three agro-chemical companies. It is No. 2 worldwide for vegetable seeds and No. 5 for field seeds.
The ambitions for the Cereal Products activities, held by Jacquet and Limagrain Céréales Ingrédients (LCI), involve the creation of a high-performance European group, based on Limagrain's expertise in cereals. The Group is the European leader for functional flours through LCI, and the third largest French industrial baker through Jacquet. This year Jacquet's position was strengthened through the purchase of Brossard, a decisive step in the consolidation in France, considerably broadening its offer in the pastries segment.
Limagrain
