Diverse, high-quality, environmentally sound production

In Nouvelle Aquitaine, the region of France with the most agricultural land, 80% of farms will be certified either organic or High Environmental Value (HVE) by 2030.

Known around the world for its wines – which include renowned appellations like Margaux, Saint-Émilion and Pomerol – the Nouvelle Aquitaine region also produces and exports a range of other products, such as Limousin beef and veal, Charentes-Poitou butter, and duck foie gras from southwestern France. 

The Region’s agricultural sector is known for the quality of its products, which have a total of 296 official quality and geographic-origin labels (AOP, label rouge, etc.). 

With nearly 7,000 certified farms (7.4% of its agricultural surface area), Nouvelle Aquitaine is France’s second largest region for organic farming. This environmental transition is the fruit of a concerted political effort. In 2019, Nouvelle Aquitaine’s Regional Council signed the Neo Terra charter, a roadmap for the agricultural sector’s ecological transition.  The Region established an ambitious goal:  80% of all farms – of all sorts – should be certified either organic or High Environmental Value (HVE) by 2030. That transition is already well under way for wine-growing. Sixty-five per cent of Bordeaux AOC wine-growing land – France’s largest wine-growing surface – is already certified by one of several different environmental labels (Bio, Terra Vitis, Biodyvin, etc.).

The Region, which has been exporting to South America and Africa since late 2019, is also very active in China, with licensed distribution networks called “Maisons Sud-Ouest France,” (Southwestern-France Houses), co-developed with the Occitanie region in 2013. 

The current focus is on training and assisting small- and medium-sized French food and agricultural businesses in navigating the export process, essentially for Asia. To that end, the Nouvelle Aquitaine Food Agency offers the help of a dedicated engineer to assist them in obtaining all required authorizations and certifications.

Key figures of Nouvelle-Aquitaine region

Nouvelle-Aquitaine is the first region in France in agricultural surface area with 15% of France’s agricultural land and over 10 million acres.
Nouvelle-Aquitaine is the second wine-growing region in France in surface area with 216,000 hectares over 500,000 acres and 1/3 of French wine.
The Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region is the first French exporter of wine and spirits with 5.2 billion euros in exports, of which 60% for Cognac.
China is top client by value and United States is top client by volume.
Nouvelle-Aquitaine is the first employer in the region with 58,000 jobs.
In 2015, the revenue of the food and agriculture industry was 30.4 billion euros, of which 7.7 billion euros from exports.
The region produces 17% of the fruit grown in France with 491,800 tons in 2018, 61% of the French food industry’s foreign-trade balance in 2018.