Governance for and by cooperative farmers
Our cooperative farmers are the lynchpin of our Group’s governance and the key to its stability. The Group’s governance is balanced, committed and continuously changing: evolves as farming changes so that it remains democratic and relevant. In particular, we are conscious of the importance of reinforcing relationships with cooperative-farmers, involving them more closely in the stewardship of the Group, working actively on the ground across our territory , and engaging the Group’s employees.
A stable and democratic model of governance
VIVESCIA Group’s governance operates through two main bodies: the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee. Under the authority of VIVESCIA Group's President, Christoph Büren, the Executive Committee oversees the Group's financial performance.
The Board of Directors represents VIVESCIA’s cooperative farmers. Made up of 22 elected directors, it sets the Group’s objectives and ensures that they are achieved, through various governance committees: Audit committees, a remuneration committee, a financial commitments committee, and a CSR committee. The directors are cooperative-farmers elected by the full body of VIVESCIA's cooperative members. They are offered the training they need to carry out their roles and fulfil their responsibilities. Eight of these directors sit on the Board Committee. The president of VIVESCIA is a farmer elected by the Board of Directors.
VIVESCIA Industries has its own governance body.
VIVESCIA Industries (a partnership limited by shares) is controlled by its majority shareholder, VIVESCIA cooperative Group. Investors and employees of the Group can become involved in its governance. However, the majority of the shares are held by the cooperative. Member-farmers sit on its various governing bodies (the SICOM, the supervisory board, and specific committees).
* VIVESCIA Ingredients is the trade name of VIVESCIA Industries
Dynamic governance
A committed governance team. So that it stays that way, we continuously adapted our governance bodies so that they keep our business model relevant and preserve the connections between all our stakeholders. “Progress is our leitmotif,” said VIVESCIA's President, Christoph Büren. “That’s how we combine cooperation, entrepreneurship and sustainable performance.” To continue this progress, we look to tools such as the Guide for good cooperative governance practices, published in spring 2021 by the French High Council for Agricultural Cooperation. And we take action!
One of our key challenges is finding the right balance of power between cooperative members, the directors who represent them, and the executives who manage the day-to-day running of the Group.
That is why we ensure our elected directors are supported in their roles and responsibilities: they can follow training at top institutions (ESSEC’s Sénèque pathway and NEOMA Reims).
To involve them even more closely in the future plans of the Group and its subsidiaries, since 2020 elected farmers have been appointed to the Boards of Directors of our industrial subsidiaries to ensure that their diversification strategies serve the interests of the VIVESCIA Cooperative and its members.
The Remuneration Committee
What is the role of the Remuneration Committee?
This Committee ensures that the compensation package (direct and indirect compensation) allocated to the Group's dozen-or-so executive directors (VIVESCIA Agriculture and VIVESCIA Industries) is in line with market practices. We are assisted in this role by HR. If necessary, we enlist the help of specialised firms. VIVESCIA Group’s cooperative project most allow us to attract and retain the best talent.
How does it work?
The Remuneration Committee has several members: Christoph Büren (president of VIVESCIA), Nicolas Demoury (president of VIVESCIA Industries’ Supervisory Board and Vice-president of VIVESCIA), and the committee’s president. The Committee meets on average four times a year.
The GERMEA Research Chair
As agriculture is currently undergoing a paradigm shift and because our grain cooperative is an extension of the farms in our region, we have created the GERMEA Research Chair (Group for Study and Research on Changes in the Agricultural Enterprise) with the support of two other cooperative groups, Euralis and Terrena. The results of the work carried out by this Chair will be useful to all agricultural stakeholders.
VIVESCIA YOUTH COMMITTEE
Preparing the next generation!
Created in 2022 with a view to engaging dialogue with young cooperative farmers and making cooperative governance more attractive to them, this young farmers’ committee has around 20 members who volunteer for a three-year term. All have the same ambition: to understand their business better, but also to ensure their voices are heard, and to contribute to VIVESCIA’s strategy for the future:
- Thematic workshops — around four per year.
- Regular dialogue with the Board of Directors.
- Meetings with experts, access to dedicated training modules, and a study trip in the second year.
It is also a chance to broaden their entrepreneurial horizons and maybe learn more about the board member’s role. With a first cohorts in 2023/2025, the momentum continues with the recruitment of a new 2026/2028 cohort with around 20 farmers from all over the cooperative’s territory.
"We need young people to help shape our future. We need their ideas to inform our thinking on the path towards 2030, to make our services even more helpful, and to invent new ones"
ALBAN COLLARD,
DIRECTOR, MEMBER OF THE BOARD COMMITTEE, AND FORMER MEMBER OF THE YOUTH COMMITTEE