Food industry

The agri-food industry transforms agricultural products into food. This includes the production of flour, oil, sugar, and other essential commodities for human consumption.

The agri-food industry is France's leading industrial sector, both in terms of turnover and employment. The agri-food industry plays a key role in regional development and development, accounting for 70% of French agricultural production and producing 8% of the food consumed in France. The image of French origin in terms of food is excellent, thanks to the very high quality and safety of its products, as well as the richness of its terroirs.

To obtain consistently high-quality products at the best price, the food industry seeks varieties that best meet the intended use. They therefore need wheat varieties suitable for baking, brewing varieties of barley, sugar varieties of beetroot, varieties for making rapeseed or sunflower oil, vegetable varieties that can be stored or with a good dry matter concentration to reduce processing costs, etc.

The agri-food industry has specific expectations of seed companies, primarily focused on quality, innovation, sustainability, and the ability to meet market demands. They also want to obtain raw materials that are suitable for their production processes.

Plant breeding takes into account the quality needs and industrial constraints of processors. The intrinsic quality of the harvest, its health status, the homogeneity of the batches, their suitability for conservation and the technological qualities for processing are important selection factors, diversified and codified in specifications.

For all these possible uses, it is essential to adapt plants by creating new varieties, and then to produce seeds for quality crops and harvests.