HOMEAre farmers committed to cooperatives for life?
No, farmers are committed for a fixed period only.
Their membership form specifies the share subscription amount and business commitments (nature and duration). Farmers may leave the cooperative if they so wish. The Board of Directors may withdraw a farmer’s membership if they fail to fulfil the conditions outlined in the bylaws.
Who are the decision-makers in a cooperative?
A cooperative enterprise is made up of two essential governance bodies. The Board of Directors, which is composed of member farmers. They work alongside the Executive Committee to define Euralis’ key strategies and to check that ratified decisions are implemented in the field. The Executive Committee is the second governance body. It proposes strategic orientations and ensures the success of the cooperative’s operational management. It is also responsible for piloting and developing medium-term plans and monitoring their implementation. The Executive Committee works closely with the managing Board of Directors, which governs it.
What about development in France and abroad?
Euralis operates in both national and international markets.
The cooperative has heavily invested in production sites in France over the past 20 years.
However, it is also essential to open new production sites to compensate for export difficulties linked to competitiveness, customs barriers and health issues. The cooperative is present in Asia, North America and Eastern Europe to support economic growth in these regions.
Euralis is present both in France and abroad; what is your relationship with farmers?
Working closely with farmers is a major challenge and the cooperative is attached to its roots in Southwest France. However, Euralis also has an entrepreneurial spirit and intervenes in agricultural and agrifood markets which are national by nature and often operate at the international level. Rather than being incompatible, these two concepts complement one another. For example, one of Euralis’ missions is to advise each member farmer on grain crops. At the same time, the teams must perform well in highly competitive international markets to sell their grains. To fulfil this dual objective, Euralis has implemented a new form of governance based locally in each region. As a result, the Agricultural Division is organised into regions to meet the needs of member farmers as closely as possible.