What CERESCO does

CERESCO is a French consulting firm specializing in agricultural, agri-food, and territorial development advisory. Founded in 1974 by Pierre BLEZAT (originally as BLEZAT CONSULTING, renamed CERESCO in 2020), the firm has accumulated five decades of expertise at the intersection of agricultural economics, supply chain analysis, and public policy. Today the practice is employee-owned following a 2017 management buyout by seven staff members, led by CEO Bertrand OUDIN and a partner-associate team including Antoine JAN, Julie SEEGERS, Mickaël ETHEVE, and Romain JOYA. The firm operates from headquarters in Lyon (18 Rue Pasteur, 69007) with a secondary office in Toulouse.

CERESCO's service portfolio spans four thematic universes: value chains and economic tools; local food systems and territorial food projects (PAT); agriculture and territories (including planning, forestry, urban agriculture, financial instruments, public policy evaluation, local development, and foresight/concertation); and agroecological transitions. Underpinning these offerings are proprietary methodologies such as 3D Participatory Mapping, an ecoquartier agro-urban accompaniment framework, and a semi-automated methodology for identifying agricultural fallow lands (friches). The firm delivers these services through a core team of senior consultants and partners supplemented by thematic experts, trained junior consultants, and technical subcontractors.

CERESCO's business model is professional-services consulting, with fees negotiated per engagement and revenue split between public sector clients (French regions, departments, métropoles, intercommunal structures, and ministries such as the Ministère de l'Agriculture) and private sector clients (agricultural cooperatives, food industry firms, landowners). Client acquisition relies on a sales-led and community-led GTM motion-combining public procurement tenders, direct outreach, and referrals from a 50-year institutional network-positioning the firm as a 'tiers de confiance' (trusted third party) for multi-stakeholder territorial projects. A wholly-owned subsidiary, CETIAC (created 2018), generates a parallel revenue stream from regulated agricultural impact compensation studies.

Name

CERESCO

Legal name

CERESCO

Website

https://ceresco.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CERESCO is a French employee-owned consulting firm specializing in agricultural, agri-food, and territorial development advisory. Founded in 1974, it serves French regions, ministries, métropoles, and private food-sector clients through participatory methodologies and proprietary territorial mapping tools, with subsidiary CETIAC handling regulated agricultural impact studies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural and Food Sector Consulting

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Environmental Consulting Services (541620)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Sustainability & ESG Consulting (BPAHACAK)

Keywords

• Agricultural consulting
• Food value chain
• Territorial planning
• Public policy evaluation
• Agroecology advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Lyon

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Public Sector Consulting: Fees from public sector engagements including regional councils, departmental councils, métropoles, communes, and government ministries (Ministry of Agriculture, CGAAER). Projects include policy evaluation, strategic planning, and technical assistance.
2. Private Sector Consulting: Fees from private sector clients including agricultural cooperatives, food industry companies, private developers, landowners, and agricultural organizations. Engagements include feasibility studies, market analysis, and strategic consulting.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

CERESCO is a French consulting firm providing specialized advisory services for the agricultural and food sector. The company delivers strategic consulting, feasibility studies, public policy evaluation, financial instrument design, and stakeholder engagement for agricultural value chains, local food systems (PAT), territorial planning, and agroecological transitions. Its clients include French regional councils, departmental councils, métropoles, national ministries, agricultural cooperatives, food industry companies, and landowners.

Product overview

CERESCO is a consulting firm specialized in agricultural and food sector advisory services. The company operates as a unified consulting practice offering multiple interconnected thematic services including value chain analysis, local food systems, agricultural territorial strategies, and agroecological transitions. Their portfolio includes specialized methodological tools (participatory mapping, stakeholder engagement workshops) and a subsidiary company CETIAC for agricultural impact compensation studies. Services range from public policy evaluation and financial instrument design to urban agriculture and forestry sector consulting.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Filières et outils économiques (Value Chains and Economic Tools) Consulting services for agricultural and food value chain analysis, market studies, feasibility studies, business plans, and strategic planning for food industry actors and public authorities.
• Alimentation locale (Local Food Systems) Strategic consulting for local food relocalization, territorial food projects (Projets Alimentaires de Territoire - PAT), and coordination between producers and consumers at regional and local levels.
• Agriculture et Territoires (Agriculture and Territories) Advisory services for agricultural and forestry strategies, land use planning integration (SCOT/PLUi), farmer installation support, and agricultural land compensation.
• Transitions et agroécologie (Transitions and Agroecology) Technical-economic feasibility studies for new supply chains, actor mapping, consumption diagnostics, and support for sustainable agricultural transition and agroecological practices.
• Agriculture urbaine et périurbaine (Urban and Periurban Agriculture) Professional urban agriculture project development, territorial attractiveness, and local food supply connections in urban environments.
• Forêt et filière bois (Forestry and Wood Sector) Forestry strategy consulting, multifunctional forest management, and support for wood sector stakeholders and local authorities.
• Instruments financiers (Financial Instruments) Financial engineering services including loan funds, guarantee funds, investment funds deployment, and analysis of agricultural financing needs for regions and institutions.
• Planification et foncier agricole (Planning and Agricultural Land) Agricultural land use planning, farmland preservation strategies, zero net land take objectives, and land policy advisory for local authorities.
• Prospective et concertation (Foresight and Participation) Participatory foresight methodologies, scenario construction, stakeholder engagement, and strategic planning workshops for territorial development.
• Evaluation des politiques publiques (Public Policy Evaluation) Public policy evaluation services including ex-ante assessment, implementation analysis, and policy impact measurement for rural development programs.
• Développement local et décentralisation (Local Development and Decentralization) Advisory on local development strategies, decentralized governance, public intervention frameworks, and European/state funding alignment for regions and departments.
• CETIAC - Compensation et Etudes d'Impacts Agricoles Agricultural impact compensation studies and regulatory compliance services for project developers, following the French agricultural law (loi d'avenir pour l'agriculture, 2014).

Quantifiable outcome

• 6M€ programmed with 1:6 banking leverage effect for Région SUD agricultural financing instruments
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• CETIAC (Compensation et Etudes d'Impacts Agricoles - Conseil)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Wholly-owned subsidiary created in 2018 to specialize in agricultural compensation and impact assessment services. CETIAC develops methodologies for agricultural sector analysis, impact quantification, and regulatory compliance support for project developers facing agricultural impact obligations under French law.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• McKinsey & Company France: Global strategy consulting firm with agriculture and food practice, periodically engaged by French public institutions on food system and rural development strategy. Represents the high end of competition for large public mandates.
• PwC France: Big Four firm with established agribusiness, food, and public sector advisory practices in France. Competes for large public sector mandates alongside CERESCO but offers broader multidisciplinary capabilities.
• KPMG France: Big Four firm with agribusiness and sustainability advisory capabilities, active in French public sector consulting including agricultural and rural development programs. Competes for the same institutional clients from a global platform.
• EY France: Big Four firm with an agribusiness and food sector practice, regularly competing for French public sector mandates around agricultural transition, sustainability, and rural policy evaluation.
• Boston Consulting Group France: Global strategy consulting firm with an agribusiness practice serving French and European public and private sector clients on food systems, agricultural transition, and sustainability topics.
• Deloitte France: Big Four firm with a dedicated agribusiness practice and significant French public sector consulting presence. Competes for agricultural policy and food system mandates from a larger multidisciplinary platform.
• Eurogroup Consulting: French-origin generalist consulting firm with dedicated practices in agricultural transition, food, and public sector transformation. Competes with CERESCO for the same French public procurement mandates but from a broader portfolio position.

Direct peers

• Agrosolutions: Agricultural consulting subsidiary of InVivo, France's leading agricultural cooperative group, providing sustainability, agricultural transition, and supply chain advisory to agribusiness and public actors. Closely comparable to CERESCO's agricultural economics and agroecology focus.
• AND International: French agri-food strategy consulting firm serving food industry clients and public institutions across value chain analysis, market studies, and territorial planning. Direct comparable to CERESCO's agricultural and food sector advisory model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ceresco-conseil

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries1 record

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 CERESCO