Global agribusiness giant Cargill is investing US$150M in upgrading its sunflower processing site in Saint-Nazaire, France.
The investment would allow the site to shift from lower protein meal to high and super-high protein sunflower meal, creating a new regional source of plant-based protein for the animal feed sector and reducing reliance on imported meal, the company said on 29 April.
As sunflower crops continued to increase in France, and with the region around the site an important supplier, the investment would provide local farmers with an outlet for their seeds and enhance collaboration with cooperatives, the company said.
“This strategic investment strengthens our ability to connect French farmers to growing demand for high-value protein meal,” said Alexis Cazin, president of Cargill’s Agriculture and Trading group in EMEA [Europe, the Middle East and Africa].
“By upgrading our processing capacity in Saint-Nazaire, we’re creating more opportunities for local farmers while helping ensure France remains competitive in rapidly evolving global feed markets.”
The investment also represented a significant step forward in improving the site’s energy resilience, the company added.
By using processed sunflower hulls to generate energy on site via a new biomass boiler, Cargill said it also expected to reduce its natural gas use by more than 100GWh/year and cut CO2 emissions by approximately 20,000 tonnes/year – around 90% of the site’s CO2 emissions.
In addition, excess sunflower hulls would be converted into agricultural biomass pellets and supplied to external customers, including district heating networks.
Construction is scheduled to begin in November, with commissioning planned for March 2029.
Active in France since 1964, Cargill has a network of 14 sites in the country, most of them in western France – in Brittany, Normandy and Pays de la Loire – in line with the company’s focus on local agricultural production, including sunflower, rapeseed, corn, wheat, apple pomace and poultry.
