Our Sicoly cooperative and its producers have organised and launched a unique movement to concretely promote the transmission-takeover and installation of agricultural project leaders.

On 9 October, 90 students from three agricultural training schools visited 3 agricultural businesses and the storage, packaging and shipping infrastructure of the Sicoly cooperative, in an immersive tour.

The production companies visited, in the heart of the Monts du Lyonnais, allowed the different audiences to understand the diversity of productions and models:

• At Céline Sivignon (GAEC du Guillermin in Messimy): an agricultural engineer by training, producer of apples, vine peaches, cherries and table grapes with her brother and husband, for long circuits (mass distribution) and local circuits (network of Terres Lyonnaises stores developed by Sicoly® in partnership with Cerise et Potiron).

With the testimony of producer Philippe Goy.

• Chez Simon Mermet (EARL du Pavillon in Mornant): an agricultural engineer by training, set up in November 2020, producer of cherries, berries and melons for the fresh and processed sectors, and local circuits.

With the testimonies of Nicolas Laurent (breeder and cherry producer) and Gilles Gaudin (producer set up outside the family in 2004, selling in seven years).

• At Anthony Perrot (EARL Les Vergers du Cri in Chabanière), a young producer who set up in 2019 and joined the family business (^4th generation), producing strawberries, apples, cherries, pears and apricots with Sicoly and for direct sale.

With the testimony of Grégoire Cote, a young man who settled in 2020 in Loire-sur-Rhône in the south of the Rhône department, with about fifteen hectares of orchards (including pears for the baby food sector with Blédina) and above-ground strawberries.

This event, placed under the sign of discovery and sharing, allowed these young people to dive into the heart of the arboriculturist’s profession and to understand all its richness. Through exchanges with producers and visits to farms, they were able to measure the diversity of crops made possible by the quality of the soil and the local terroir, but also the vitality of a cooperative network committed to the future. An inspiring day, full of meaning, which could well give rise to new agricultural vocations.