Pioneer in financing the organic sector, la Nef, an ethical bank, has been supporting production, processing and distribution projects in the organic sector since 1988. 

The Nef offers credit, savings, and crowdfunding solutions focused exclusively on projects with social, ecological, and/or cultural benefits. With a culture of support and solution-finding, genuine sector expertise, a simple and effective offering, fair and transparent pricing, and a focus on promoting projects within the Nef community, La Nef's teams, present throughout the country, are reinventing the banking profession to fully embody the role of "financial partner" for the professionals they support.

 

The Nef is a partner of Natexpo for several years. Discover their perspective on the current context.

 

• Introduce yourself

Aline Desplantes and Arthur Vaillant, key account advisors at La Nef, organic sector representatives.

 

• As an ethical bank, you are in daily contact with organic companies committed to the ecological transition. What are your thoughts on the current market situation?

After ten years of growth, the organic market declined starting in 2021. This was a shock for the sector, given that from 2010 to 2019, this €13 billion market had recorded double-digit growth. Industry players invested heavily to meet the increased demand. But starting in 2020, with the onset of COVID-XNUMX, the market began to evolve.

First with the cosmetics organic, where the situation deteriorated from 2020 (during the lockdowns, people washed less!). For food, it was from the middle of 2021 that difficulties began to appear, particularly from the start of the deconfinement.

Consumers shifted their consumption to other priorities (leisure, travel, eating out), they cooked less, and their shopping baskets were reduced. Subsequently, inflation had a monetary, but also psychological, impact on consumer behavior. Even though inflation was less significant in specialty stores than in supermarkets, we currently find organic fruits and vegetables in specialty stores at the same price, or sometimes even cheaper, than conventional products in supermarkets.

The final point that explains the current complicated period is the proliferation of labels (such as High Environmental Value), which has caused confusion among consumers. The halt in growth and even the decline in consumption is brutal for many players and has led to the closure of specialist stores.

This isn't the first time organic has experienced a downturn. It has become much more popular in recent years, has become more structured, and has managed to win over new fans who are aware of the virtues of healthy, ecological, and fair food.

This crisis is not a challenge to organic products as such, but to how they must evolve to become more visible, valued, and desirable. Beyond adapting offerings to the inflationary shock and the decline in consumer purchasing power, the goal is to win them back in the face of increased competition from existing alternatives that are not equivalent.

This requires both collaborative work between all stakeholders in the sector, but also increased support. Maintaining support upstream of the sector, while the rate of conversion of agricultural land is already slowing, is therefore essential.

From words to actions, organic companies are expecting more support and strong political will from the public authorities, as demonstrated by the petition. "Stop “organic contempt”.

 

• How can La Nef help entrepreneurs cope, as an ethical bank?

At La Nef, we remain convinced that organic farming remains the solution for the future for a food healthy, sustainable and fair. As an ethical bank, we have decided to intervene as a priority in support of our long-standing organic partners and clients by:
– continuing to support their development projects as soon as possible
– implementing cash flow support measures when necessary. This may involve temporarily suspending certain loan repayments or granting short-term financing lines tailored to needs.

Furthermore, we have decided to communicate more widely to our Nef community (members, savers, professional clients from all sectors) on the challenges that organic companies currently face, by highlighting financed organic companies that they can support through their acts of consumption.

Finally, we continue to study new financing requests from organic companies that are not yet clients, because not all projects are in difficulty (fortunately) and some players continue to develop and are healthy enough to be able to borrow. We therefore continue to support the creation, as well as the development of its activities across the entire sector (field to fork).

• What are your expectations for the Natexpo trade fair this year?

Our priority is to continue to show our clients and long-standing members that we are still there for them during this difficult time for the organic sector. That's also the role of an ethical bank! The trade show is also a fantastic opportunity for us to explore the market and identify new opportunities for collaboration.

If we particularly like to walk the aisles of the show for meet organic entrepreneurs, we will also have a stand as every year (N79) during the 3 days of the show where we will be pleased to welcome all those who are interested in ethical and solidarity finance to finance their development projects.

 

Article proposed by our partner La Nef
https://natexpo.com/nos-partenaires-institutionnels/la-nef/