What is the Empreinte by Saipol program ?
Emélie HALLE : Empreinte by Saipol is Saipol’s programme designed to turn farming practices into a lever for remuneration upstream, and a lever for decarbonization and sustainability downstream, while remaining pragmatic for the agricultural sector. The Empreinte by Saipol programme is a continuation of the approach we have been pursuing for the past five years with OleoZE, in a more comprehensive version, as we are now able to recognize and trace a wider range of farming practices, in order to apply sustainability across all products derived from oilseeds.
Why is Saipol launching its program now ?
E. H. : It is our maturity in terms of sustainability, combined with the emerging needs of new value chains that are making decarbonization commitments or want to take concrete action to support the agricultural transition, that led us to develop the Empreinte by Saipol programme. Over the past five years, Saipol has developed strong expertise in the regulated market for premium biofuels. As a result, we have sourced 850,000 tonnes of oilseeds along with their sustainable farming practices and returned more than €24 million upstream, in addition to the price of the seeds.
To move faster and achieve greater impact, we work with upstream partners that act as aggregators. Some have even created their own programmes to enable their network of farmers to seize the opportunity to embark on their transition, which fits perfectly with our approach. There is a genuine willingness across the entire value chain, from upstream to downstream, to accelerate action and take concrete steps towards decarbonization and the agricultural transition, and the Empreinte by Saipol programme aims to scale up rapidly.
Director of Sourcing & Sustainable Value Chains at Saipol
What are the benefits of the Empreinte by Saipol program for farmers and industrial customers ?
E. H.: For a farmer, the Empreinte by Saipol programme offers an opportunity to embark on the transition by earning additional remuneration, calculated by Saipol according to the level of farming practices implemented. For an industrial customer, Empreinte by Saipol provides an opportunity to link their decarbonization and sustainability commitments (SBTi trajectory, Scope 3, etc.) with the opportunity to have an impact on farming practices. All of this combines high-quality products, stringent traceability and a certified emissions calculation methodology developed by South Pole.
What is the ambition behind the "Empreinte by Saipol" program, and how does it align with the values of Saipol and Avril ?
E. H.: The ambition of the Empreinte by Saipol programme is to accelerate the agricultural transition by tracing, qualifying and recognizing 1 million tonnes of seeds produced using sustainable farming practices by 2030. This would ultimately represent one-third of our supply. To achieve this, we have created a Sourcing & Sustainable Value Chains Department, whose mission is to promote, support and remunerate the implementation of virtuous and traceable practices among our agricultural suppliers, in order to serve our customers committed to a transition towards a positive impact on the planet.
Empreinte by Saipol has been designed in the same spirit as that of Avril’s founders more than 40 years ago: contributing to the resilience of French farms by ensuring remunerative outlets for oilseed production !
What are the market outlets covered by Empreinte by Saipol ?
E. H.: Empreinte by Saipol is an enhanced version of OleoZE. This programme is first and foremost based on our longstanding expertise in biofuels with high GHG emissions reductions, which has enabled us to demonstrate our ability to align upstream and downstream needs in order to achieve ambitious targets. This historical outlet is now complemented by all the outlets derived from oilseeds: food oils, animal feed, glycerin for cosmetics, for example, as well as all other co-products.
Saipol’s strength in ensuring the success of this programme lies in its close relationship with the agricultural sector and its ability to trace farming practices while assigning them a value in the markets. We know that, to be fully effective, this sustainability approach must be pragmatic and accessible, in order to meet each customer’s specific objectives.
Want to know more ?
Watch the replay of the conference “Feeding the Planet: How Can We Strengthen French Agriculture?” featuring Emélie Halle.
