Arnaud ROUSSEAU, farmer, President of the National Federation of Agricultural Holders' Unions (FNSEA), Vice-President of the FOP, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Avril Gestion.
Arnaud Rousseau is a farmer working in the French county of Seine-et-Marne. He runs the family farm, established over five generations in the village of Trocy-en-Multien. He mainly grows rapeseed, sunflower, wheat, beet, corn, barley, and open field vegetable crops over a surface area of 339 hectares.
His wife, also a farmer, took over the operation of her parents' farm in 2006. Along with 4 employees, together they cultivate nearly 700 hectares of land.
Arnaud is deeply involved in the local community and was elected town councilor of Trocy-en-Multien in 2008, becoming mayor of the village in 2014. Re-elected in 2020, he is also Chairman of the federation of municipalities of the Pays de l'Ourcq.
From grassroots unionism in Seine-et-Marne to national-level responsibilities
A firm believer in the power of collective action, he became involved in agricultural unionism in 2005 within the FDSEA 77. As a member of the board since 2010, he served as General Secretary and then Chairman from 2013 to 2017. He was also General Secretary of the FRSEA Ile-de-France, between 2013 and 2016.
Member of the Seine et Marne Chamber of Agriculture since February 2013, he then served as Chairman of the Ile-de-France Region Chamber of Agriculture in 2019.
He was elected Director of the French Federation of Oilseed and Protein Crop Producers (FOP) serving for his region since 2005.
In February 2017, he was appointed Chairman of the FOP. He was also named Chairman of the Board of Directors of Avril Gestion following the sudden death of Xavier Beulin. He thus became the first representative of agricultural shareholders within Avril, the industrial and financial Group of the French vegetable oil and protein industry. The Group was created in 1983 by producers to add value to their seeds, thus contributing to France's food sovereignty.
A Board member of the FNSEA since 2014, he was then elected 1st Vice Chairman in July 2020. He is particularly involved in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). He was elected President of the FNSEA on April 13, 2023.
A background in line with strongly held values
Married with three children, Arnaud was born on January 15, 1974. A 1996 graduate of the European Business School in Paris, he began his career working as a crop manager on a field crop farm in Chamigny, Seine-et-Marne. In 1999, he joined Sygma, the national union of cooperatives, before embarking on a brokering career with Valeurs Agricoles. In 2002, he settled down to take over the family farm.
He also served as an officer in the operational reserve from 1996 to 2009.
In addition, Arnaud was awarded the Chevalier du Mérite Agricole in January 2015 and then the distinction of Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite in 2021.
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About Avril
5th largest agri-food group in France, Avril is the industrial and financial leader in the French vegetable oil and protein sector. Created by the agricultural world, the Group develops innovative, healthy and sustainable solutions to feed people and animals, and accelerate the decarbonization of the planet. Its purpose, Serving the Earth, guides its actions, in line with its ambition to become by 2030 the leader in plant transformation, serving the agricultural, food and environmental transitions.
In addition to its historic role as an investor, the Group is now a manufacturer firmly rooted in plant processing, from seed to processed product. Active in human food, animal nutrition and expertise, renewable energies and green chemistry, it deploys a portfolio of activities that are all leaders in their markets.
Strengthened by this link with the French farm, Avril has based its growth over the past 40 years on a unique value-creation model: it reinvests all its profits in the dynamics of the industry and its development in France and abroad.
Present in 19 countries with nearly 7,500 employees at 69 industrial sites and sales offices, Avril achieved sales of 8 billion euros in 2023.
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