Wines and fruit: 7 PACA companies embrace CSR

A collective action was carried out in partnership with the PRIDES Terralia, the AFNOR group and with the support of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region and 2 regional consulting firms. 7 small and medium-sized businesses in the PACA region’s wine and fruit and vegetable industries have modified their practices over a 2-year period to assess and improve their corporate social responsibility (CSR).

The aim was twofold: from 2013 to 2015, to support SMEs in the wine and fruit and vegetable sectors who wanted to integrate sustainable development practices into the management of their activities. They were fully mobilized to improve their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). They have benefited from effective support to build their approaches, following the guidelines of the ISO 26000 standard.
At the end of the program, they had the maturity level of their practices recognized with an AFAQ 26000 assessment. Six of them reached the “confirmed” level, and one the “progress” level, which is remarkable for a first assessment of a company’s CSR strategy.
A document accessible to all is available online to illustrate this experience. Here are a few short and very significant extracts:

• Balma Venitia, Cave coopérative viticole – 46 employees, 14 million in sales, Beaumes de Venise (84).
  “The CSR approach now gives us a global vision of our actions on the economic, social and environmental pillar.”
  

• Estandon Vignerons, Union of winegrowing cooperatives – 72 employees, 40 million in sales, Brignoles (83).
  “Numerous levers for improvement have been identified: promotion of the sector to young people, a training and HR platform, conservation of rosé wines and improvement of vineyard yields. Our organization as a cooperative farm naturally turns us towards networking with players in the industry and regional development.”
  

• Marrenon, Union de coopératives viticoles – 60 employees, 31 million in sales, La Tour d’Aigues (84).
  “It’s a first step with the generalization of sustainable agriculture, reinforced by a more present environmental approach, the organization of the company at the economic, process and human resources levels, and the combination of all the values that animate and inhabit the company on a daily basis, including particularly close links with the regional social fabric”.
  

• Mas Saint Paul, Fruit producers’ organization – 45 permanent employees, 10 million turnover, Mouries (13). “Numerous initiatives are underway which are yielding results: 7,000 m2 of photovoltaic panels for the resale of electricity, optimized waste management, valorization of fruit not sold traditionally. On the social front, optimizing training, improving working conditions (break areas, workstation ergonomics, etc.), the project to perpetuate seasonal jobs through the possibility of creating a time-sharing company…”.

• Pronatura, 100% organic fruit and vegetable grower – 180 employees, 87 million turnover, Cavaillon (84).
  “We’ve (re)realized that growers, customers and employees are inextricably linked. It’s taking all their expectations into account that ultimately benefits both the consumer and the company’s long-term future”.
  

• Vignerons de Caractère, Cave coopérative viticole – 26 employees, 13 million in sales, Vacqueyras (84). “We have also begun to take action on important points, such as improving working conditions, with action to prevent musculoskeletal disorders. On the environmental pillar, we want to optimize our cartons and create a new eco-designed bottle, with a gain of almost 20% in glass weight, 97 tonnes of CO2 less and 15% in transport costs.”

• Vignerons du Mont Ventoux, Cave coopérative viticole – 25 employees, 8 million in sales, Bedoin (84). “To date, thebenefits of the approach are already positive, with a high level of involvement on the part of staff and winegrowers, an increase in managerial skills among department heads and a 33% increase in remuneration for harvest contributions.”

About Terralia:
Terralia is the innovation and growth network for players, users and suppliers of innovative solutions, in the plant-based agri-food sectors in the south-east of France (fruit and vegetables, vine and wine, cereals). It brings together companies, research organizations and training bodies. It offers its members services to support them in various fields related to innovation and development: monitoring and forecasting, scientific, technical and commercial networking, emergence and support for innovative and collaborative projects, search for financing, development support (market access, Training-HR, CSR, Export). Terralia is a certified competitiveness cluster and PRIDES.

About AFNOR Certification:
AFNOR Certification, France’s leading certification body, is a pioneer in the external assessment of CSR initiatives in France, with over 200 public and private organizations already AFAQ 26000 assessed. As an independent organization, AFNOR Certification is an objective and impartial witness to a company’s CSR approach. AFNOR Certification, the commercial subsidiary of the AFNOR association, offers companies and professionals the opportunity to be recognized by quality marks such as NF, AFAQ and the European Ecolabel www.afnor.org