Limagrain s Social Responsibility Faced with strong agricultural and food challenges: long-term valorization of the profession of farmers, food security and quality of produce, optimization of natural resources and biodiversity, access to progress, and broadened regulatory requirements, Limagrain has structured its CSR approach in order to continue to stay a highperformance and responsible player for years to come. Our CSR approach is an extension of the Limagrain fundamentals: a mission to produce food, a cooperative governance placing Man at the heart of its model, a culture of innovation and partnerships; and a strategic vision promoting sustainable commitments. Limagrain will thus be in a position to meet the expectations and needs of all its stakeholders (employees, clients, suppliers, shareholders, local communities, public authorities, NGOs, etc.). CSR forms one of Limagrain s strategic levers at the service of its mission: to move agriculture forward to meet food challenges. It is a fabulous source of progress, attraction and differentiation, actively contributing to the competitiveness and performance of the company.
Limagrain s Social Responsibility Our progress in terms of CSR: Governance and society In order to affirm the originality of Limagrain and to be recognized as an exemplary partner, we are sharing and valorizing our cooperative governance, we are structuring our business ethics, we are opening up dialogue with our stakeholders, we are reinforcing our involvement as corporate citizens, and finally, we are acting efficiently to develop the territories we work in. Innovation In order to insure our competitiveness, we build our performance on innovation. We improve plants to meet the needs of farmers, industrialists and consumers. We protect plant innovation while encouraging access to genetic progress. We foster our culture of partnerships while favoring collective intelligence. Human resources In order to accompany Limagrain s development, we are attracting and retaining talents, developing the qualities and skills of each employee, building professional careers with a long-term perspective. At the same time, we are committed to developing social dialogue and to cultivating managerial excellence. Finally, we are implementing the means necessary so that the health and safety of our employees is a priority for the Group and a strong feature of our corporate culture. Operational excellence In order to entrench our reference position on our different markets, we provide farmers with high performance and responsible agronomic solutions and we ensure consumers have accessible, safe and high-quality products. Finally, we optimize the environmental impact of our activities and our agricultural, industrial and research sites throughout the world.
Governance and company Sharing and promoting the specificities of the cooperative model Structuring business ethics Ours stakeholders knowledge of our cooperative identity Limagrain s confirmed commitment to initiatives promoting the cooperative model and the values of the farmers profession Creation of a Limagrain Code of Conduct and setup of an adapted management system Deployment of the Code with training of managers and awareness-raising among employees Drafting of a communication kit on Limagrain governance and creation of animated infographics on the role of the cooperative s administrators. Such tools are for in-house and external use. Promotion of the Limagrain model via Limagrain Academy training sessions on the Group s cooperative governance, in partnership with Coop de France and intended for employees and members. Three sessions, each with some twenty participants, were held over the course of the financial year 2014-2015. Deployment of the Limagrain Code of Conduct and associated e-learning tools with a view to raising all our employees awareness of Limagrain s principles and commitments with regard to business ethics. At 30 June 2015, training of 100% of managers on the Code of Conduct, using role-plays based on operational scenarios. Quarterly meetings of the Code of Conduct Operational Committee, since February 2015. The Committee s work is based on real operational scenarios helping them assess risks and provide responses intended for all employees on ethical dilemmas encountered. Dialoguing with stakeholders Getting involved in society and territorial development Implementation of a structured approach to dialogue Dissemination of CSR principles and programme across our ecosystem to make them unifying factors and essential components of the Group s culture Development of employment in our activity sectors across the areas where we are located Definition of a Limagrain societal action framework Promotion of Limagrain s socioeconomic contribution First publication of a corporate social responsibility report detailing action carried out in this field throughout the financial year 2013/2014. Distribution of a leaflet intended for the public at large, explaining Vilmorin Jardin s commitment to responsible development and Jacquet-Brossard cereal product manufacture. Coordination of the enterprise s various corporate functions via the Group s CSR Department to optimise CSR action-plan performance. CSR Department s management of societal and environmental reporting and accompaniment of contributors to help advance all Business Units. Contribution to increasing Auvergne s economic attractiveness through upkeep of qualified, high valueadded employment. Strengthening of teams; with recruitment of 550 seasonal workers in Auvergne for the 2015 maize and sunflowerseed harvests. In 2014-2015, our employees contributed 1,267 hours of work to associations with a view to helping them with their social and/or civic actions. 71 social commitment initiatives were launched in 2014-2015, including 31 sponsorships, mostly in the areas of agriculture and education.
Innovation Protecting discoveries and enabling access to progress Development of the capacity to innovate Promotion of fair and adapted protection of varietal creation Creation of educational tools on innovation and the issues involved, for use in-house and externally 14.6% of the Group s professional turnover is devoted to R&D (13.5 % in 2013/2014) contributing to preservation of germplasm and varietal creation. Active participation and representation in interprofessional workgroups, including GNIS, UFS, ESA, ISF and Alliance 7. Action planned for 2015-2016. Anticipating products socio-environmental impact Taking full account of the socioenvironmental impacts of seeds, products and processes from the time they are designed and first made use of Training on the subject dispensed to our teams Setup of a Quality Management System by 31 companies accounting for 76% of Limagrain turnover. Existence of an Environmental Management System in 6 companies accounting for 27% of Limagrain turnover. Action not yet carried out. Spreading the culture of collective intelligence Continuing the partnership approach to stakeholders, thanks to emphasis on collaborative innovation Development of collective intelligence by strengthening synergies within the Group Setup of Hengji Limagrain Seeds Co Ltd., a joint venture between Limagrain and the Chinese company Anhui Hengji Seed, with the aim of creating new varieties, including maize, adapted to the Chinese market. Licensing agreements concluded with Syngenta, authorising Limagrain to independently market present and future GMO traits in maize developed and marketed by Syngenta. Second edition of the Collaborative Spirit Challenge at Limagrain Services Holding. The Challenge individually or collectively rewards employees whose activities have demonstrated true collaborative spirit in working with one or more Business Units, another corporate function and/or external stakeholders. Three prizes were awarded this year.
Human Resources Attracting and retaining talent Structuring our employer brand policy HM.CLAUSE partnership, including University of California, Davis, where members of the Management Committee regularly teach classes 699 permanent employees recruited Developing the qualities and competences of all employees Carrying out all yearly interviews Access to training for all employees and promotion of training programmes leading to qualifications Improvement of our hiring rate for disabled people Number of employees benefiting from a yearly one-to-one interview with their line managers: 5,405 Limagrain Academy training sessions held at several Business Units in various countries: o Number of participants in Limagrain Academy training sessions 2014-2015: 478 o Number of Business Units concerned: 14 o Number of nationalities involved: 25 Number of training hours dispensed by Limagrain in 2014-2015: 123,373 hours for total expenditure of 4,225,529 Number of disabled employees in France: 140 employees recognised as disabled in France i.e. 3.41% of Limagrain employees in France Building career paths over the long term Implementation of a structured approach to career management (including mid-career interviews) In 2014, 191 mid-career interviews were carried out in France. Among other things, the aim is to take stock of skills acquired by employees and their wishes with regard to training and/or long- or medium-term career development within the Group. Developing social dialogue Strengthening our social dialogue through greater commitment to openness and more discussion with employee-representative bodies Setup of social barometers along with personal development plans Numerous Group agreements were signed in France, with a view to BUs sharing a common policy. In 2014/15, negotiations were concluded on revision of the Agreement on the European Enterprise Committee and granting of further prerogatives, including setup of a select committee, a new definition of Consultation, and the possibility of holding discussion meetings between representatives. Collective agreements: 50 collective agreements were negotiated and 39 signed at company level during the financial year 2014-2015.
Human Resources Cultivating managerial quality Development of training programmes for managers Creation of managerial training programmes fully adapted to managers needs Underway Underway Making employees health and safety a priority Development of a health & safety culture with setup of a common framework and of innovative and effective actions and structures with a view to guaranteeing the health and safety of all employees Absenteeism: 4.94 % Training/Awareness-raising of all managers and 5 (out of 14) of the Group s BU Management Committees and their Safety coordinators, and LSH managers: 101 people trained over 13 days. Planned for 2015/2016: continuation of training/awareness-raising of BU Management Committees, training of managers, training seminar for all the Group s safety coordinators, and drafting and dissemination of the Group Safety Manual.
Operational Excellence Providing farmers with effective, responsible solutions Developing long-term relations with producers Reducing use of phytosanitary products Promotion of the socioenvironmental qualities of Limagrain solutions among the farming community Limagrain Coop s 2015 launch of Limagine Décision: a new tool for plot registration and crop management designed to help members in their day-to-day decisionmaking; Launch of a territorial ambition in Auvergne: the Limagrain Innovation Laboratory, which aims to develop innovative solutions inspired by agroecology for and with farmers. Almost 300 varieties created and marketed in 2014-2015, including 187 vegetable seeds and 95 field seeds Since 2015, Limagrain has been a member of the French Biodiversity Research Foundation (FRB), a platform shared by the various scientists and social actors in the field of biodiversity, bringing its own expertise to the table. Ensuring consumers product quality and availability Obtainment of certifications guaranteeing these aspects and enabling implementation of continual improvement initiatives 22 companies, accounting for 59% of Limagrain turnover, have obtained ISO 9001 type quality management certification All our European companies active on the bakery and pastry (Jacquet Brossard) and cereal ingredient (Limagrain Céréales Ingrédients) markets have obtained food safety certification (BRC, IFS, FAMI-QS) Measuring and limiting our facilities environmental impact Optimising supply chains Optimisation of water and energy consumption without adversely affecting product quality Optimisation of waste recovery and/or recycling Structured approach to supplychain management maximising effective and responsible synergies Energy audits carried out at 17 sites in France Checking reliability of data on the Group s waste management Over 76% of the Group s waste is recovered, recycled or composted First calculation of our energy consumption from mobile sources for the Group as a whole, in order to implement continual improvement action During the previous financial year, AIGLE disseminated a questionnaire to suppliers regarding their practices with regard to CSR and compliance with the principles of the Global Compact. 2014-2015 results show that 61% of 154 active suppliers, are committed to a CSR initiative (+ 25 points compared with 2013/2014) and 18% have signed the Global Compact (+ 8.8 points).