- Our CSR approach

Since the 1980s, Saipol’s approach to corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been shaped by actions taken to promote national oilseed production, develop renewable energy and the supply of plant proteins by providing sustainable and profitable markets to farmers and the industry.

It also promotes SPRING, Avril Group’s CSR policy. SPRING supports Avril’s strategic plan and materialises the Group’s objectives, actions and progress in terms of sustainable development based on 5 pillars and 25 indicators with target objectives for 2023.

5 pillars

#1. Supply chains and procurement

Participate in the development and strengthening of responsible chains

#2. Products & Services

Meeting customer and consumer expectations with responsible, quality products

#3. Planet

Protecting the planet and its resources

#4. Human

Cultivating our values to work better together

#5. Stakeholders

Engaging with our stakeholders

PILLAR 1 - SUPPLY CHAINS AND PROCUREMENT

PARTICIPATING IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND STRENGTHENING RESPONSIBLE SUPPLY CHAINS

Through its central position in the oilseed sector, Saipol ensures consistency between societal expectations and upstream agricultural production.

Saipol adds value to national production, helps to structure responsible supply chains and contributes to the agricultural transition towards sustainable practices.

Via its online seed collection solution, OleoZE, Saipol remunerates collecting organisations and farmers to implement sustainable agricultural practices that have a positive impact on the planet (carbon storage in the soil, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from crop products).

The Saipol factories in Le Mériot (Aube) and Lezoux (Puy de Dôme) are specialised in the processing of French rapeseed and sunflower seeds.

Saipol has been experimenting with the use of Camelina (Camelina sativa) in intercropping.

This experiment, carried out with Camelina Company, collecting organisations, technical institutes and chambers of agriculture, is laying the foundations for a French intercropping pilot supply chain with a high reduction in greenhouse gases (GHG) and low-level input farms in order to develop the future biofuel supply.

Pillar 2 - Products and services

MEETING CUSTOMER AND CONSUMER EXPECTATIONS WITH RESPONSIBLE AND QUALITY PRODUCTS

Saipol markets a wide range of products and solutions for food, animal nutrition and technical uses with environmental benefits.

Product quality in nutritional, sanitary and technical terms, as well as production traceability from a physical and regulatory point of view (biofuel sustainability certification) are at the heart of Saipol’s know-how.

90% clients industriels satisfaits Saipol

more than 90%
of industrial customers satisfied
with all our products.

This is what emerges from the quality studies carried out annually with our industrial clients.

Staying in contact with customers and suppliers,

Saipol has developed digital solutions that make the sale of sustainable seeds and the purchase of vegetable proteins (meal) possible from Monday morning to Friday evening without interruption.

OleoZE – sale of sustainable seeds

Feedmarket – purchase of protein-rich meal

Numerous quality certifications have been implemented, whether in terms of quality management (ISO 9001) or food safety (Food and Feed standards). We can also mention the Origine France Garantie and the VLOG (GMO-free)

With the renewable energy Oleo100, Saipol offers road hauliers, local authorities and companies the opportunity to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of their vehicles by at least 60%.

Since the 1990s, Saipol has been producing biodiesels from vegetable oils, primarily rapeseed oil.

Marketed under the brand name Diester, this biodiesel is incorporated by oil companies into diesel fuel distributed at the pump under the name B7 or B10.

Since 2018, Saipol has developed additional resources to offer its customers a new range of speciality biodiesels with low GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emissions

Saipol supports French supremacy in proteins 🇨🇵 by producing nearly 2 million tonnes of rapeseed and sunflower meal in France for livestock feed.

The development of rapeseed for the production of biodiesel (a co-product of meal) has significantly increased French vegetable protein production and reduced the share of imported soybeans for livestock feed.

Pillar 3 - Planet

PROTECTING THE PLANET AND ITS RESOURCES

Saipol has been producing renewable energy since the 1990s and has developed solutions from oilseed crops to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in transport.

As an industrial player, Saipol also acts to reduce its energy consumption, to substitute its consumption of fossil fuels with renewable energies and to use all by-products and waste from production.

Saipol invested early in reducing the carbon footprint of its factories, in particular by setting up heat recovery systems in its industrial units.

In addition, more than 60% of the thermal energy (steam) used by Saipol is produced from biomass (wood chips or sunflower husks).

Biomass boilers were commissioned as early as 2011 at the Grand-Couronne and Lezoux factories, followed by Bassens in 2013 and Sète in 2015. A biomass boiler project is also being studied at the Mériot site.

The ash from the combustion of sunflower husks in our biomass boilers is used as fertilizer, in particular by, Terrial, a subsidiary of the Avril group.

Pillar 4 - women and men

CULTIVATING OUR VALUES TO WORK BETTER TOGETHER

Saipol, as with all the subsidiaries of the Avril group, is committed to developing a strong safety culture based on the conviction that all accidents are avoidable.

The training of employees and managers, the integration and continued employment for disabled workers, gender diversity and equality between men and women are all issues to which Saipol is committed to making progress in order to achieve levels of excellence.

Employees also work with local stakeholders to promote the employment of young people and to combat discrimination in employment.

Every year in June, the teams are mobilised to participate in Avril Safety Day. An operation that aims to develop a safety culture at all times.

In order to support people with a recognised disability as soon as they are hired by the company, and to raise awareness among teams concerning the inclusion of employees with disabilities, in 2018 Saipol set up a Disability service.

A disability advisor is appointed at each site to support this process.

With the support of managers committed to a firm policy of training and employment for young people, Saipol is taking on 34 employees on work-study programmes during the 2022-2023 school year

Illustration de l'égalité au sein du CODIR Saipol

Since 2018, Saipol has measured its performance in terms of professional equality and published the Gender Equality Index.

The score obtained was 94/100 in 2022, for more details click here.

As part of the deployment of our disability policy, Saipol took part in the first edition of the Inclusive Games 2021 organized by Agefiph Normandie and implemented by the HR Department with the aim of raising awareness of disability among its employees and getting them to take part in an exceptional inter-company competition!

The Inclusive Games took place in June and thanks to the participation of about fifty employees, Saipol won 7th place !

Pillar 5 - Stakeholders

ENGAGING WITH OUR STAKEHOLDERS

Through its local presence in 6 French regions, Saipol has established close links with its suppliers, customers and local stakeholders.

Saipol acts locally in order to make its activity known to stakeholders, on the one hand, to ensure the integration of industrial sites into their socio-economic environment, and on the other hand, to attract its future talents.

Saipol’s employees also work with local stakeholders by participating in solidarity, communication and information activities for the general public.

Launched in 2019, on the occasion of Pink October, employees participate in Avril Pink Days, an operation during which each employee is invited to wear a pink garment and raise awareness of breast cancer screening.

The Avril Group donates €5 to the ARC Foundation for each employee involved in this process within the Group.

At the initiative of Saipol, the Avril Group has been a partner of the C. Génial Foundation since 2016 with the Profs en Entreprises operation. By welcoming teachers to the industrial sites and talking to employees, teachers find concrete subjects to share with their pupils concerning information on the careers open to them if they choose to study science or technology.

As part of the Avril Communities programme, Saipol hosts meetings between local elected officials and the players in the supply chain, from seed to market (farmers, processors, breeders, etc.).

These multilateral meetings provide an opportunity to discuss how agricultural issues for food and feed, energy and sustainable development are closely intertwined within the territories.

Find out more about the AVRIL Group’s CSR approach

– Our CSR approach –