The France Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai is delighted to announce that LesCompagnons du Miel beekeepers’ cooperative has joined the Pavilion as a Thematic Sponsor. In Dubai, LesCompagnons du Miel will showcase the beekeeping sector’s vital importance for regional biodiversity, working via a cooperative model unlike any other in France.

The Dubai World Expo will be the biggest global gathering of 2021, and the role of the France Pavilion at the event is to promote French businesses, talent, ideas and assets to the world. France is setting out to position itself as an international driving force for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established by the UN, and for rebuilding a world after the pandemic.

As such, the Pavilion will shine a spotlight on initiatives and innovations with the power to address the challenges of economic, social, ecological and cultural transformation in our society. From 1 to 14 October 2021, the France Pavilion will dedicate its entire event schedule to the theme of preserving and restoring Biodiversity.

“At Expo 2020 Dubai, France will be particularly focusing on the theme of Biodiversity, and the urgent need to agree upon collective and coordinated efforts at local, national and international levels in order to halt its destruction. In this context, the partnership with Les Compagnons du Miel is a natural choice: the organisation is a French co-operative certified with the ‘Agri-éthique’ (Ethical Agriculture) label, and a fair-trade business offering premium-quality honey with 100% traceable origins, while also working to foster closer links between producers and consumers.

Moreover, bringing the cooperative on board for this international event is testament to our determination to mobilise the full range of our national talents in order to provide a truly collective response to our environmental needs.”

Erik Linquier,

Commissioner General for France at Expo 2020 Dubai, and CEO of COFREX

Les Compagnons du Miel represents 129 beekeepers in France carrying the ‘Agri-éthique’ (Ethical Agriculture) certification, and is a French fair-trade business. With members spread across the whole of France, Les Compagnons du Miel produces honeys that reflect the unique attributes of their local environments, allowing consumers to explore the many varieties of honey available, while also helping new generations understand the importance of beekeeping.

Ever since its creation in 1958, the cooperative has maintained a firm commitment to creating a stable and dynamic beekeeping sector in France:

• Guaranteed quality and traceability: all our honeys are subject to lab analysis in order to guarantee their origin, quality and authenticity
• Preserving biodiversity: a pollination network of 56,600 hives to help protect biodiversity
• Sensible and sustainable beekeeping: an ethical and progressive approach in which every member of LesCompagnons du Miel is actively engaged, solidified through its cooperative Charter.
• Safeguarding bee populations: beekeeping practices, bee health and well-being (‘well-beeing’, if you will), raising awareness among younger generations: LesCompagnons du Miel works every day to protect our bees, both today and in the future.
• Complete transparency: honey without the middleman, straight from producer to consumer
• Fair prices for producers and consumers: the first honey produced by French fair-trade farmers to carry the ‘Agri-ethique’ (Ethical Agriculture) label, using a business model unlike any other in France’s beekeeping sector.

“Becoming a Thematic Sponsor for the Biodiversity Fortnight for the France Pavilion is a strong symbolic statement for the cooperative and its 129 beekeepers. Our primary ambition is to raise public awareness of the impact of climate change on biodiversity and bee populations. As France’s biggest pollination network, with 56,600 hives located all across the country, our cooperative has been working since 1958 to develop a sustainable and responsible French beekeeping sector: a crucial goal for the future.

Our second objective is to promote the unique attributes of our cooperative model for beekeeping, with collective and ethical values that allow us to structure a practical, effective approach to sustainable development.

The incredible variety of honey types produced in France is a reflection of our beekeepers’ expertise and the country’s rich diversity of flora, and yet remains relatively little-known outside our own borders. We have no doubt that visitors will be surprised and delighted by our honey tastings at the Dubai World Expo!”

François Peyrac,

Beekeeper and President of LesCompagnons du Miel cooperative

As the first world expo to be held in the MEASA region (Africa, Middle East and South Asia), Expo 2020 Dubai is centered around the theme of “Connecting Minds, Creating the future.” Bringing together over 200 participants from various backgrounds – countries, organisations, companies and academic establishments – Expo 2020 Dubai expects to receive some 25 million visits.

World Expos of this sort have always ranked among the most eagerly anticipated international events, alongside the Olympic Games and the Football World Cup. They carry on a proud and longstanding history beginning with the first ever Great Exhibition in London (UK) in 1851.

The ambitions set by these expos have evolved over the decades, and today lean towards international cooperation and the search for solutions to the challenges faced by humanity. For six months, every country in the world will come together in order to discuss, put forward and implement specific solutions for the benefit of mankind. In light of the ongoing health crisis this theme is no mere symbolic proposal, but rather an urgent and critical need.

You can find more information at www.francedubai2020.com & https://lescompagnonsdumiel.fr/