What Coforet does

Coforet (legal name COFORET SCA à capital variable) is a French forestry cooperative founded around 1970, headquartered in Lamure-sur-Azergues and registered with RCS Villefranche-Tarare. It pools the resources of 15,611 private forest owner members (adhérents) across 20 departments in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté regions, employing 97 specialized staff across 20 local offices and serving more than 600 non-member clients. Its mission is to address the fragmentation of French private forestry — 75% of French forests are privately owned — by providing collective scale in management, operations, and commercialization that individual owners could not achieve alone.

The cooperative's core service offering is organized around three pillars: (1) forest management and administration (sustainable management documents, PEFC certification, cartography, financial forecasting, aid applications, fiscal and heritage advice); (2) execution of forestry work (silviculture, logging, forest road construction desserte forestière, and specialized techniques including cable-mast harvesting on Alpine slopes exceeding 60-70% and drone seeding on the Jurassic arc); and (3) wood commercialization and valorization, aggregating member timber volumes for sale to local sawmills and operating two wood-energy platforms (Goncelin, Saint-Germain) certified under REDII/REDIII supplying boilers over 20 MW. Supporting platforms include the GEOFORET member portal (document management, cartographic workspace, personalized information), the COFOCIMES ISO 9001-certified internal management system, and the Cycle COFORET interactive visualization tool.

Coforet generates revenue through three principal streams: professional service fees for forest management mandates, transaction/commission fees on aggregated wood commercialization, and managed-services revenue from wood-energy biomass supply contracts. Pricing is quote-based and negotiated individually with members under cooperative governance. Distribution is exclusively direct and field-based through the 20 local offices staffed by forest advisors, with no reseller or e-commerce channels. Certifications (ISO 9001:2015, PEFC forest management and chain of custody, REDII, REDIII, CERTIPHYTO, AOC Bois de Chartreuse) and an ECOVADIS Silver ESG rating (top 3% in sector) underpin both regulatory compliance and member/buyer trust.

Name

Coforet

Legal name

COFORET SCA à capital variable

Website

https://coforet.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1970

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Coforet is a French forestry cooperative pooling 15,611 private forest owners across 20 departments to deliver collective forest management, silviculture and harvesting work, and wood commercialization services. It employs 97 staff across 20 local offices and serves more than 600 non-member clients in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Forestry Services

NAICS

Support Activities for Forestry (1153), Support Activities for Forestry (11531)

SIC

Forestry (800)

akta.pro primary industry

Forest Management & Silviculture Services (Cruising, Planning, Compliance) (IMAMAAAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Forest Certification, Compliance & Chain-of-Custody Support (AFAMAAAH), Timberland Operations Planning & Contractor Management (AFAMAKAE), Silviculture & Reforestation Services (Nurseries, Planting, Tending) (IMAMAJAC)

Keywords

• Forest management services
• Sustainable forestry
• Timber commercialization
• Forestry cooperative
• Wood energy supply

Headquarters

HQ city

Lamure-sur-azergues

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Forest Management Services: Coforet provides comprehensive forest management services to private forest owners including management document creation, project management, forestry work execution, and wood commercialization. Revenue is generated through service fees charged to members for these professional services.
2. Wood Commercialization and Valuation: The cooperative aggregates timber volumes from member forest owners and commercializes wood through local sawmills and wood energy platforms. Coforet earns commissions or transaction fees on wood sales, benefiting from the collective scale of grouped volumes.
3. Wood Energy Supply Chain: Operation of wood energy platforms (Goncelin, Saint-Germain) supplying boilers over 20 MW, certified under REDII/REDIII. Revenue generated through wood biomass supply contracts.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Coforet is a forestry cooperative that delivers comprehensive forest management services, executes forestry work, and commercializes timber on behalf of 15,611 private forest owners across 20 French departments. Its offerings span sustainable management document creation, PEFC certification, property administration, silviculture and logging execution, and aggregated wood sales to local sawmills and wood energy platforms. Members access these services via the GEOFORET digital portal and a network of 20 local offices staffed by forest advisors.

Product overview

COFORET is a forestry cooperative offering a portfolio of integrated services organized around three core pillars: (1) forest management and administration, (2) execution of forestry work (silviculture, logging, access roads), and (3) wood commercialization and valorization. The cooperative supports private forest owners through a suite of products including GEOFORET (member portal), COFOCIMES (internal management system), and Cycle COFORET (interactive cooperation tool). COFORET also participates in the AOC Bois de Chartreuse certification scheme and offers landscape wood chips as a derived product. The portfolio is structured around a cooperative model that groups 15,611 private forest owners across 20 departments in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Forest Management Services Comprehensive forest management services for private forest owners: creation of sustainable management documents (plans simples de gestion, PSG), PEFC certification support, cartography, financial forecasting, master contracting (maîtrise d'œuvre), and access to the GEOFORET member portal. Delivered to members via the cooperative's network of 20 local offices and forest advisors across Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.
• Forestry Work Services Execution of forestry work as project manager (maître d'œuvre) on member properties: silviculture (planting, thinnings), logging/exploitation (including cable-mast harvesting on steep alpine slopes), and forest access road construction (desserte forestière). Leverages a network of specialized partners and internal expertise to deliver work in all property types.
• Property Administration Services Administrative support for forest property owners: preparation of subsidy application dossiers, SIRET number registration, and personalized heritage/wealth tax advice. Provided to cooperative members to handle the administrative complexity of private forest ownership.
• Wood Commercialization Aggregation and commercialization/valorization of timber harvested from member forests. Organizes the supply chain from forest to sawmill, including local short-circuit sales to regional sawmills (e.g., Scierie du Léman, Scierie Détraz) and to certified wood energy platforms (Goncelin, Saint-Germain). PEFC-certified supply chain.
• Plaquette Paysagère (Landscape Wood Chips) Landscape wood chip product (plaquette paysagère) marketed by Coforet, sourced from managed forests and sold for ground cover and landscaping uses (bois de paillage).

Quantifiable outcome

• 723,645 trees planted in 2023-2024
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• CFBL (Coopérative Forestière Bourgogne Limousin)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2025CFBL is another forestry cooperative. Coforet collaborated with CFBL and Forêts d'Ici on video production projects to showcase forestry professions and promote the sector to a broad audience.
• Forêts d'IcicoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2025Forêts d'Ici is a regional forestry communication initiative. Coforet partnered with Forêts d'Ici and CFBL on video projects showcasing forestry professions and daily work in private forests.
• Région Bourgogne-Franche-ComtécoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2025Coforet collaborated with the Region Bourgogne-Franche-Comté on the Épicurieux video project dedicated to bark beetles (scolytes). The Region co-funded and co-promoted the educational content to raise awareness about forestry challenges in the region.
• Épicurieux (Jamy Gourmaud)flagshipGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 October 2025Épicurieux is a YouTube channel (over 2 million subscribers) animated by Jamy Gourmaud that produces educational science content. Coforet participated in a filming session for a video on bark beetles (scolytes), shot in the Jura forests. This partnership provides wide public visibility to Coforet and the forestry sector.
• France Bois ForêtcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2025France Bois Forêt is a national organization supporting the forest-wood sector. Coforet has collaborated on photo shooting projects, the 'Notre Forêt Demain' television program, and various sector communication initiatives.
• CODIFABminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 October 2025CODIFAB (Commission Interprofessionnelle pour le Développement de la Filière Forêt-Bois) co-funded and partnered on photography and audiovisual projects showcasing forestry professions, including a photo shoot in the Monts du Lyonnais.
• Union de la Coopération Forestière Française (UCFF)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2025The UCFF is the federation of French forestry cooperatives. Coforet partnered with UCFF on the VeryWoodMétiers TikTok video portrait series to showcase forestry careers and the daily work of forest advisors.
• FIBOIS (Bourgogne-Franche-Comté & Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFIBOIS is the interprofessional organization for the forest-wood sector in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions. Coforet partners with FIBOIS on multiple initiatives including the 'Vis ma vie de bûcheron' public outreach operation, the Grande Fête de la Forêt et du Bois events, and ongoing sector communication campaigns.
• Scierie du LémanminorOthersLocal sawmill that receives high-quality timber (charpente grade) from Coforet-managed cable-mast harvest operations in the Alps. Wood is sourced within a 50 km radius, supporting the local wood circuit.
• Scierie DétrazminorOthersLocal sawmill that receives packaging-grade timber from Coforet's alpine forestry operations, contributing to the short-circuit wood valorization model practiced by the cooperative.
• ForesboisminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerForesbois is a specialized forestry company that installs cable systems for steep-slope timber extraction. The company (led by Henri Prémat) installs and operates cable-mast lines for Coforet's mountain forestry operations.
• ECOVADIScoreOthersECOVADIS is a globally recognized extra-financial rating agency that evaluates companies' CSR/ESG performance. Coforet underwent and passed the ECOVADIS assessment, achieving Silver status and a top 3% ranking in its sector.
• Pôle Excellence BoiscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPôle Excellence Bois is a wood industry excellence cluster. Coforet is a signatory of the 'Forestiers Engagés' charter launched by the cluster, committing to responsible forestry practices. The cluster also supports regional forest communication initiatives.
• Groupe Coopération Forestière (GCF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGCF is the group of forestry cooperatives to which Coforet belongs. Through GCF, Coforet participates in group audits, shared certifications (ISO 9001, PEFC, chain of custody), and collective initiatives that strengthen the cooperative network.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Office National des Forêts (ONF): French public operator managing state-owned and community forests across France. Operates in the same forestry and silviculture category as Coforet but on a national scale and as a public incumbent — broader mandate and significant overlap in management and wood commercialization capabilities.

Others

• UCFF (Union de la Coopération Forestière Française): National federation of French forestry cooperatives, of which Coforet is a member. Provides group representation, sector communication (VeryWoodMétiers) and shared coordination among cooperatives — adjacent ecosystem enabler rather than a direct competitor.
• Pôle Excellence Bois: French wood-industry excellence cluster running the 'Forestiers Engagés' charter co-signed by Coforet. Functions as a sector ecosystem enabler for forestry and wood businesses, providing cluster-level certification, training and communication resources rather than direct forest management services.
• Fransylva: Federation representing private forest owners in France, consolidating the interests of forest-owner syndicats and structuring political and policy engagement. Adjacent rather than competitive; shapes the regulatory and policy environment in which Coforet and similar cooperatives operate.

Direct peers

• Alliance Forêts Bois: France's largest forestry cooperative, formed from the merger of several regional cooperatives serving private forest owners with management, silviculture and commercialization services. Directly comparable to Coforet in cooperative model, services offered and PEFC-certified value chain positioning.
• Société Forestière (CDC Biodiversité): French forest asset manager and investment arm of Caisse des Dépôts, providing sustainable forest management, certification and wood commercialization for institutional and private owners. Comparable to Coforet in forest management services and certified wood valorization, though serving a more institutional clientele.
• CFBL (Coopérative Forestière Bourgogne Limousin): Regional French forestry cooperative already partnered with Coforet on video projects and serving private forest owners across Bourgogne-Limousin. Closely comparable cooperative model, member base structure and wood commercialization offering.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/coforet

Compliance8 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles20 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Coforet