Les Mousquetaires’ €5m Investment Boosts French Beef Sector
Groupement Les Mousquetaires, through its Agrimousquetaires association, has launched an initiative to counteract the ongoing decline of French cattle farms and safeguard national food sovereignty.
“By helping young farmers to start up or retrain, we are giving prospects to a new generation, and we are helping to build a stronger, more sustainable and more sovereign French beef sector.”
The ‘Programme Avenir Boeuf’ (Beef Future Programme) aims to boost the ‘Boeuf Junior’ (Junior Beef) sector.
It promotes the raising of cross-bred calves in France to generate new economic opportunities for dairy farms and specialised fattening operations.
To help farmers overcome the financial hurdles of setting up and upgrading operations, the €5 million programme offers direct funding through a targeted call for projects.
Participating farmers can receive up to €400 for every new or renovated stall, covering about 20% of total construction costs.
Pôle Boeuf (Beef Cluster) Agromousquetaires, Intermarché and Agrimousquetaires are co-financing the scheme, which aims to back roughly 215 farms by 2029 and fund nearly 17,000 fattening spaces nationwide.
New Farmer Generation
The initiative specifically targets young farmers and career-changers partnering with the group, removing major capital barriers to infrastructure investment.
In exchange, participating farms will secure long-term contracts with the Agromousquetaires Beef Cluster, which guarantees economic stability and technical guidance.
All projects must meet stringent sustainability and animal welfare benchmarks, including mandatory Boviwell audits.
Frédéric Bébiot, the Mousquetaires company manager overseeing the beef division, explained, "By helping young farmers to start up or retrain, we are giving prospects to a new generation, and we are helping to build a stronger, more sustainable and more sovereign French beef sector."
Besides operating over 4,300 retail outlets across France, Belgium, Poland and Portugal, Groupement Mousquetaires runs an agri-food division of nearly 60 factories, all operating within France.
