AFC

What AFC does

AFC (Association Française des Professionnels de la Cueillette de Plantes Sauvages) is a French non-profit association (loi 1901) founded in 2012 and headquartered in Milly-la-Forêt, approximately 60 km southeast of Paris. The association federates professional wild plant harvesters (cueilleurs professionnels) along with companies using wild plants as raw material, natural space managers, landowners, and amateur supporters around the mission of preserving wild plant resources and promoting sustainable harvesting practices. Its primary deliverables include the Guide de bonnes pratiques de cueillette (published 2021) as the central reference document, species-specific technical booklets, a private member platform, training programs, webinars, and the Cueilleurs Sentinelles collaborative digital platform (launched 2024, with a smartphone application announced for 2026) for monitoring wild plant populations, mortality alerts, chemotype changes, and harvest tracking.

AFC's revenue model is a multi-stream non-profit construct: annual membership fees (voluntary contributions), tax-deductible donations and patronage (66% deductible for individuals, 60% for companies under French law), Nagoya Protocol Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) APA conventions with industrial users of wild plants (L'Occitane, Clarins, HallStar), and institutional grants from public partners including the Office français de la biodiversité (OFB), the Ministère de la transition écologique, CASDAR, and France AgriMer. Operating with approximately 12 staff and the listed responsible person Michaël Arnou, AFC distributes its services domestically in France via direct membership, training enrollment, the Annuaire des adhérents member directory, technical days, and a professional General Assembly. The organization engages in policy positioning through the UNESCO Alpine Food Heritage candidacy and operates the Plantes actives interprofessional association created on January 24, 2025.

Name

AFC

Legal name

ASSOCIATION FRANCAISE DES PROFESSIONNELS DE LA CUEILLETTE DE PLANTES SAUVAGES

Website

https://cueillettes-pro.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

AFC is a French non-profit association founded in 2012 that federates professional wild plant harvesters, providing sustainable harvesting guidelines, training, the Cueilleurs Sentinelles monitoring platform, and policy representation for the French aromatic and medicinal plant sector.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Milly-la-Forêt

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Membership fees (Adhésion): Annual membership fees from professional and amateur harvesters, companies using wild plants, natural space managers, landowners, and supporters.
2. Donations and patronage (Mécénat): Tax-deductible donations from individuals and companies. Associations d'intérêt général can receive deductible donations (66% for individuals, 60% for companies).
3. Nagoya Protocol APA conventions: Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) conventions with companies using wild plants as raw material, in compliance with the Nagoya Protocol. Compensation can be in kind or financial.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

AFC is a French non-profit professional association (loi 1901) founded in 2012 that brings together professional wild plant harvesters, companies that use wild plants, natural space managers, and landowners. It delivers member services including a collaborative botanical monitoring application (Cueilleurs Sentinelles), best-practice reference guides, technical booklets, training programs, webinars, and a member directory supporting the sustainable and traceable harvesting of wild plants in France.

Product overview

AFC operates as a professional association offering a unified platform centered on sustainable wild plant harvesting. The core offering includes the collaborative Cueilleurs Sentinelles application for population monitoring, the Guide de bonnes pratiques as the central reference, and a private member platform with technical resources. Supporting offerings include professional training programs, webinars, species-specific technical booklets, a media library, member directory, professional meetings, and botanical content series. The association structure positions its services as a comprehensive ecosystem for professional harvesters rather than a commercial software product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Cueilleurs-sentinelles: A collaborative digital platform developed by AFC to collect observations, alerts, and reflections from professional wild plant pickers for resource monitoring.
• Guide de bonnes pratiques de cueillette de plantes sauvages

Products and services

• Cueilleurs Sentinelles Collaborative botanical monitoring web application that allows AFC members to record, share and map observations of wild plants in their natural environment, building a shared knowledge base on wild plant resources for professional harvesters, researchers, and natural-space managers.
• Guide de bonnes pratiques de cueillette de plantes sauvages Reference publication issued by AFC that documents recommended, sustainable and responsible harvesting methods for professional wild plant pickers, serving as a standard for the profession.
• Formations AFC Training programs offered by AFC covering plant identification, sustainable harvesting techniques, applicable regulation, and professional practice for harvesters, companies, and natural-space managers.
• Webinaires AFC Recurring webinar sessions hosted by AFC on technical, scientific and regulatory topics relevant to professional wild plant harvesting, available to members and the wider community.
• Plateforme AFC AFC member portal providing access to technical booklets, a resource library (médiathèque), the member directory, and the Chroniques Sauvages botanical content series for members of the association.
• Annuaire des adhérents Public-facing directory of AFC members that gives visibility to professional harvesters and partner companies active in the French wild plant sector.
• Rencontres professionnelles AFC Professional gatherings and events organized by AFC, including the annual Assemblée Générale (General Assembly), that allow members to meet, exchange practices and steer the association's work.

Quantifiable outcome

• 80% mortality observed on some thyme sites in Aude and Pyrénées-Orientales due to 2021-2023 droughts, demonstrating the environmental pressures AFC monitors

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor, major and core.

• École IMDERPLAMminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 November 2025Agricultural school hosting AFC technical day on wild thyme (November 2025) in Candillargues.
• L'OccitanemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCosmetic company participating in Nagoya Protocol APA conventions with AFC, supporting sustainable wild plant sourcing.
• Syndicat des SimplescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProfessional syndicate of aromatic and medicinal plant producers, co-organizing technical days and training with AFC, e.g., the thyme technical day.
• OTWS (Organization for Traditional Wildcrafting Sustainability)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational organization focused on traditional wildcrafting sustainability, aligning with AFC's mission.
• HallStarminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCompany participating in Nagoya Protocol APA conventions with AFC for wild plant sourcing compliance.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Botanic Gardens Conservation International: Global umbrella organization for botanical gardens and plant conservation. It addresses a broader plant-conservation remit than AFC but operates in an adjacent space of wild plant preservation, ex-situ conservation and policy advocacy.
• France Nature Environnement: Largest French federation of environmental and nature-protection associations. It operates at a broader biodiversity remit than AFC but shares AFC's French-based advocacy and engagement with public authorities on environmental quality.

Direct peers

• Plantlife International: UK plant conservation charity working on wild plant protection, policy and habitat management. It parallels AFC's mission to preserve wild flora and its engagement with public bodies, though operating at a national level outside France.
• Syndicat des Simples: French professional syndicate of aromatic and medicinal plant producers. Like AFC, it organizes professional harvesters and growers, co-organizes technical days with AFC, and shares the same small-scale French herb-sector constituency and sustainable-sourcing mission.
• Herb Society of America: US-based membership organization promoting the knowledge, use and cultivation of herbs. It is comparable to AFC as a structured herb-focused association offering education, publications and a member community.
• American Botanical Council: Nonprofit research and education organization providing scientific information on herbs and medicinal plants. It overlaps with AFC's Médiathèque, Chroniques Sauvages content work and role as an authoritative information intermediary for the herbal sector.
• United Plant Savers: US-based nonprofit dedicated to protecting native medicinal plants and their habitats. It mirrors AFC's focus on sustainable wild harvesting, harvester education and at-risk-species conservation, and serves as a directly comparable North American counterpart.
• FairWild Foundation: International organization operating the FairWild Standard for sustainable wild-collected plant ingredients. It overlaps with AFC's Nagoya Protocol APA work and sustainable-sourcing advocacy for the botanical supply chain.

Others

• IUCN Species Survival Commission – Medicinal Plant Specialist Group: IUCN specialist group focused on medicinal plant conservation policy. It addresses some of the same at-risk-species concerns AFC raises (e.g., Arnica, Thyme) but as an international technical body rather than a French membership association.
• Réseau des Conservatoires Botaniques Nationaux: French national network of botanical conservatories focused on wild plant conservation and flora knowledge. It complements AFC's wild-plant stewardship mandate with public-sector botanical expertise and species monitoring.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/association-fran%C3%A7aises-des-cueilleurs-professionnels

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 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 AFC