Tunis, 15 February 2017,
The GOVERNMENT OF TUNISIA, represented by Mr Omar BEHI, Secretary of State to the Minister for Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries, in charge of agricultural production, and Mr Fayçal Hafiane, Secretary of State to the Minister for Industry and Trade, in charge of trade.
The AVRIL group, the French industrial and financial leader in the oils and proteins sector, represented by Mr Xavier BEULIN, Chairman, and Mr Yves DELAINE, Deputy CEO,
CRISTAL TUNISIE, subsidiary of the AVRIL group and a central player in the edible oils and condiment market in Tunisia, represented by Mr Mohamed ALI JARRAYA, Director General,
LESIEUR, a subsidiary of the AVRIL Group, the French leader in edible oils and an international actor in oils and condiments, represented by Mr Romain NOUFFERT, General Manager,
met this morning in Tunis to announce the launch of a Tunisian Rapeseed sector.
This event marks the realization of a project aimed at the development and structuring of a rapeseed sector in Tunisia.
Growing rapeseed, which begun in 2014, was initially based on the establishment of the upstream chain, which today comprises more than 100 farmers growing over 3,000 hectares.
In line with the logic of a sector organized from upstream to downstream, the development and structuring of this sector offers these farmers opportunities that cover all parts of the value chain, from raw grain to the bottle of oil, via rapeseed meals for animal feed.
Furthermore, this project allows Tunisia, a major consumer of vegetable oils, to start the production on its soil of rapeseed oil at a time when the demand of Tunisian consumers for this oil recognized for its nutritional benefits is growing.
Initiated and supported by the GOVERNMENT OF TUNISIA, this project is part of a partnership between:
- the know-how and skills of the AVRIL Group and its subsidiaries CRISTAL TUNISIE, LESIEUR, LESIEUR CRISTAL and SANDERS TUNISIE in structuring and developing agro-industrial sectors;
- the recognized expertise in the fields of production, processing and organization of agricultural sectors of AGROPOL, an interprofessional association responsible for international cooperation and development in the French vegetable oils and proteins sector, and TERRES INOVIA, the technical institute of professionals of the sector.
The valorization of the first harvests is carried out by the following industrial partners:
- The CARTHAGE GRAIN group, the only crusher in Tunisia, ensures the valorization of the seeds in oil and cake.
- Refining is carried out by a Tunisian refiner.
- CRISTAL TUNISIE ensures the packaging and marketing of refined oil under the brand LESIEUR.
- SANDERS TUNISIE ensures the valorization and marketing of rapeseed cake for animal feed in Tunisian farms.
Key facts and figures (2016)
|
Launch of the first LESIEUR branded 100% Tunisian rapeseed oil, naturally rich in Omega 3 While it marks the launch of rapeseed cultivation in the country, this project also marks the launch of the first 100% Tunisian rapeseed oil. |
The rapeseed sector in Tunisia
About the Avril Group:
Avril is the industrial and financial player in the French oils and protein sectors.
Founded in 1983 at the initiative of the French agricultural community to ensure the future of the oil and protein sectors, Avril has become a major industrial and financial group, which is developing in France and internationally.
Avril is present in sectors as diverse as human nutrition, animal nutrition and expertise, renewable energies and chemistry, through a portfolio of strong brands, leaders in their markets: Diester®, Sanders, Lesieur, Puget, Matines, Bunica, Taous...
In more than 30 years, the Group has grown significantly, but its raison d'être has remained the same: to create long-term value in the oils and protein sectors, contributing to better nutrition for men and preservation of the planet.
To fulfill its mission, Avril relies on its industrial activities, organized around the vegetal and animal sectors, as well as on its business as an investor, which it carries out through Sofiprotéol, its finance and development company.
In 2015, the Avril group achieved a turnover of 6.1 billion euros. It has 7,200 employees in 21 countries.
www.groupeavril.com | Twitter: @Avril
About Lesieur:
A subsidiary of the Avril Group, Lesieur, a 100-year-old French company, produces and markets a complete range of vegetable oils and condiment sauces.
The company has become a benchmark both for the general public and for professionals (from the Foodservice and Healthcare sectors), based on brands of oils such as Lesieur, Puget, ISIO 4, Frial, Colza, and a wide portfolio of innovative products developed along several strong axes: taste, quality, nutrition and respect for the environment.
www.lesieur.fr
About Cristal Tunisie:
Cristal Tunisie, a Tunisian company specializing in the production and marketing of edible vegetable oil, benefits from the expertise of a group present across the entire oil sector and puts innovation and quality at the service of Consumers. Cristal Tunisie is the result of a partnership between a major player in the agri-food industry in Morocco, Lesieur Cristal, leader of oils in Morocco, YKH Holding, a renowned operator in Tunisia, present in oil refining, and LESIEUR, the French leader in packaged oils and a significant player in the condiment market (mayonnaise, raw vegetable sauce, vinaigrette, variety sauce, mustard, ketchup ...).
About Sanders Tunisie:
Sanders Tunisie is a subsidiary of Sanders. Sanders, a leader in animal nutrition, is committed to every aspect of the animal production chain. Well feeding the animals to well feed humans is at the heart of Sanders' know-how.
About AGROPOL:
AGROPOL is an association made up of French oil and protein seed crop producers (FOP), the interprofession body (Terres Univia) and the Technical Center for the sector (Terres Inovia), the Avril group, CIRAD, ITERG, producers of seeds (ANAMSO) and seed companies (UFS). Established in 1982, AGROPOL supports the emergence and development in the southern countries of oleaginous sectors based on efficient family farming and an interprofessional consultation framework. Thanks to its capacity to mobilize the expertise of its members and its network, AGROPOL has for more than 30 years carried out missions in the fields of production, transformation and organization of sectors. Convinced of the desirability of an agricultural development approach based on dynamic family farming, made sustainable and structured by a chain-based organizational scheme, the FAO signed in 2012 a partnership agreement with AGROPOL to share the experience of the French oleaginous sector.
About Terres Inovia:
Terres Inovia is the technical institute for professionals in the field of vegetable oils and proteins and the hemp industry. Its mission is to improve the competitiveness of oilseeds, protein crops and industrial hemp by adapting the production and valorization of products to the economic context and societal demands.
As the technical branch of the sector, Terres Inovia provides on site support to agricultural advisers and farmers.
Reactivity, ingenuity and availability are at the heart of the work carried out by the teams of the technical institute to invent the agronomy of tomorrow in order to realize the full potential of oilseeds, protein crops and hemp: innovative methods of cultivation, varietal progress, protection, new outlets...
About Carthage Grains:
A soil seed crushing plant with a capacity of 600,000 tons per year (the first and only of its kind in Tunisia). This unit produces more than 110,000 tons of crude soybean oil, as well as 440,000 tons of soybean cake, which is the essential protein element for feeding poultry. Carthage Grain is part of the Mokhtar Group, an important Tunisian industrial group, present mainly in the steel, agri-food and metal construction sectors.
About Raffinerie Africaine:
The Raffinerie Africaine, a unit for the refining of raw vegetable oils, is a company mainly owned by the Tunisian group YKH and the Moroccan subsidiary of the Avril Lesieur Cristal Group.
Press Contacts:
KALIMA Agency
47, rue du Lac Léman – Immeuble Meninx – 2ème étage, Appt B2 – Les Berges du Lac – Tunis, Tunisia
Tel: +216 71 160 980 / Fax: +216 71 963 722 / E-mail: kalima@planet.tn
Marie PINOT | Lesieur
Tel: +33 (0)1 40 80 29 59 / Mob.: +33 (0)7 63 04 17 15
E-mail: mpinot@lesieur.fr
Tom DORON | Groupe Avril
Tel: +33 (0)1 78 14 80 09 | Mob.: +33 (0)6 26 28 39 94
Email: tom.doron@groupeavril.com