Thierry BLANDINIÈRES

Bio

A graduate of the Nantes School of Business and holder of an Executive MBA from HEC, Thierry Blandinières began his career in the chemicals and cosmetics sector, before moving into the food industry in 1991 when he joined L’Européenne de gastronomie (Labeyrie/Rougié), and subsequently the Madrange group, where he was appointed Deputy Managing Director in 1998. In 2003, he became Chief Executive of Delpeyrat-Comtesse du Barry, a subsidiary of the Maïsadour Group (a cooperative agri-food group based in the Landes region), and played a key role in its turnaround; in 2008, he was appointed Chief Executive of the Maïsadour Group and was named Entrepreneur of the Year. He joined the InVivo Group in October 2013 as Chief Executive Officer. Upon his arrival, he launched the strategic ‘2025 by InVivo’ project, thereby initiating a profound transformation of the group. He then spearheaded the collaborative development of the ‘2030 by InVivo’ plan, adopted in 2019, with the ambition of supporting the agricultural transition and transforming French agriculture. The COVID-19 health crisis required him to implement, at very short notice, measures essential to maintaining the food supply chain. At the same time, he led a strategic review to shape the group’s post-COVID-19 plan, accelerating the 2030 project. With this project, which encompasses both business and society, InVivo aims to become the benchmark in driving the agricultural transition to support the food transition. Thierry Blandinières has also worked tirelessly to transform his group into a purpose-driven company. This change in status was approved by the Union InVivo board of directors in October 2020. By adopting this status at group level – and soon across all its subsidiaries – InVivo is reaffirming its commitment to aligning its business model with its values. In 2021, at the height of the health crisis, InVivo finalised its merger with the family-owned agri-food group Soufflet, thereby becoming Europe’s leading agricultural cooperative group, with a leading position in each of its four major strategic activities: international grain trading; agriculture; agri-food (malting, wheat division, wine); and garden centres and food distribution. When Russia went to war against Ukraine in February 2022, Thierry Blandinières put forward proposals on how Europe could produce more sustainably whilst reducing its dependence on inputs, particularly fertilisers. At the same time, the group continued to expand. In August 2022, InVivo organised the IPO of its retail division TERACT, with a view to creating the French leader in responsible and sustainable retail. InVivo is the majority shareholder and Thierry Blandinières is Chairman of its Board of Directors. And, in November 2023, Malteries Soufflet finalised the acquisition of United Malt Group, thereby becoming the world’s leading malt producer. This initiative is in line with the strategy defined by the group in 2021 in collaboration with its strategic partners, KKR, Bpifrance and the Crédit Agricole Group: to make the “malt” business one of the cornerstones of its business model.