Regenerative agriculture pilots

Objective

As part of its Sustainability & Responsibility roadmap, Martell Mumm Perrier-Jouët (MMPJ) has launched regenerative viticulture pilots in its own vineyards as of 2021. Their goal is clear: to nurture and regenerate their terroir, creating harmony with nature.

Description

All our products come from nature and take their distinct character from the land where they were grown. Our business is inherently dependent on the vitality of our agricultural ingredients, preserving agricultural lands and ingredients is paramount. In this direction, Martell cognac and Mumm and Perrier-Jouët champagnes have been developing sustainable agriculture practices for years and have achieved some of the highest environment certifications.

Today MMPJ is stepping up its commitment and launching regenerative agriculture pilots. This approach is as much about people as it is about the land. By working with our employees to transition to regenerative agriculture practices, they are encouraging a holistic approach that focuses on the entire farming ecosystem – the terroir, the soil, the wildlife and plants and the people who work the land. This way, we can have a real impact on mitigating climate change, protecting ecosystems, enhancing biodiversity, restoring the soil and improving livelihoods throughout the world. The first trials on different plots of the vineyards were launched in 2021.

To support their regenerative agriculture program, MMPJ has sought the help of an expert in agroecology, Sébastien Roumegous. As a first step, he began his work with the Martell Mumm Perrier-Jouët vineyards in 2020 by conducting an in-depth study of winegrowing practices and testing soil quality. Workshops were held in Champagne and Cognac to define a regenerative roadmap and vision for the four years to come, and the teams received bespoke training. Today, the program only involves experimental plots, but if the outcome is positive, the program could be implemented more widely in the vineyards.

In addition to that, MMPJ uses technological tools to help their teams on the field. Connected innovations such as camera-equipped drones or the robot Bakus (created by the company VitiBot) will support our teams on the field for certain types of work. For instance, this robot enabled MMPJ to reach their ambition «Zero herbicide in 2020» and to go further in the protection of the soil.

Partners

In 2020, MMPJ has partnered with Sébastien Roumegous, a world-renowned expert in agroecology. He is the CEO and Founder of BIOSPHERES, as well as a member of the French association Pour une Agriculture du Vivant, of which Pernod Ricard is also a member.

Results

The first results of this regenerative agriculture program are expected for 2025.

However, MMPJ has been taking sustainability measures for more than a decade. For the past few years, it has been farming without Carcinogenic, Mutagenic and Reprotoxic (CMR) products in its vineyards, and glyphosate was banned at Martell in 2019 and at Mumm and Perrier-Jouët in 2020. The vineyards are also trialling alternative weed control (electric, foam, water pressure, etc.) as well as rolling out a varietal creation programme in Cognac (using Vidal blanc), introducing biodiversity inventories, increasing use of biocontrol, and ramping up use of recuperation panels for spraying, to name a few.