In 1906, 11 presidents of mutual insurance organisations or syndicates in Brittany set about organising a joint purchasing system. In 1911, Augustin de Boisanger, the figurehead behind the movement, suggested that the new body should be a co-operative based in Landerneau. This would later become Coopagri Bretagne.

In 1919, Hervé de Guébriant from Saint-Pol-de-Léon, a young agricultural engineer of 38, was nominated to run the Central Office. The expansion of the Central Office was based on three principal themes: syndicalism, corporatism and regionalism.
The whole future of the region's agricultural life therefore became the concern of the Central Office.

Each activity handled by the Central Office became independent:
 

credit: today the Crédit Mutuel de Bretagne,

insurance: today Groupama Bretagne,

economic activities: the different co-operatives merged in 1963 and became the Coopérative des Agriculteurs de Bretagne in 1966.
 

Vegetables. In 1962, the first frozen vegetables were produced in Landerneau for large establishments.

Animal produce. In 1965 the Centrale Laitière de Lanrinou (The Lanrinou Dairy Group) was founded. In 1973 it became the U.C.L.A.B. (The Union of Brittany's Dairy Co-operatives).

In 1968, the need to expand product processing was the incentive for the Coopérative des Agriculteurs de Bretagne (the Brittany Farmers' Co-operative) to implement a growth policy of acquisitions and partnerships with the Socopa group in the pork and then the beef sectors.

Services for farmers. In 1972, the co-operative decided to develop a self-service distribution chain for the general public and for farmers, using a brand name which was to become "Magasin Vert" in 1975. In the same year, Coopagri Bretagne's first animal food factory was founded in Pontivy, and then a second opened in Plouagat in 1974.

With the advent of the 3rd millennium, Coopagri Bretagne has become one of the leading French food-processing and agricultural co-operative groups. Our young company, soon-to-be a hundred years old, has re-focused on its three core businesses: agriculture, food-processing and distribution in the pet/garden-centre sector.

In pursuing its internal and external growth in the agricultural markets, Coopagri Bretagne is helping Brittany farmers to deal with tomorrow's challenges: expanding of structures, globalisation of trading, quality, environment and communication with society.

By increasing the development and the segmentation of food products, and by forging new industrial and commercial partnerships in the food-processing sector, our group is expanding its international commercial horizons on a daily basis and is ensuring that the work of the co-operative's pioneers lives on.