A Pandemic Opportunity

When the pandemic hit, Boris Spassky and his Co-Founder Martin d’Archimbaud saw an opportunity to change the story of agriculture in France. They came across a fertile piece of land in Toulouse, which had been used as a conventional corn production hub for Spain’s pork industry. Often this pork was then shipped back to France for consumption. “This struck us as complete agroeconomic nonsense, not to mention a bad carbon baseline.” Boris explains.

What followed was a complete redesign. Boris and Martin secured a 25-year organic lease and began transitioning the 150-hectare property to organic, rotating spelt, buckwheat, oats, wheat, sunflower, and soy.

Then came the trees. First 17,000. Then another 10,000 in 2024. Soon, over 33,000 trees will thrive where the corn once grew. Their goal is to restore biodiversity, increase local food security, create jobs, and create a positive climate impact.

Bringing Production Back to Europe

Boris and his team are passionate about bringing local production back to Europe. For example, France currently imports 95% of its almond consumption despite the possibility to produce and sell locally. La Granja is working to rebuild the local market and forecasts that they will be able to sell 90 tons of almonds annually by 2030.

“We’ve already lost 20% of our orchards in France over the last two decades, not including vineyards.” he says. “We can’t afford to keep losing ground. Agriculture has to become part of the climate solution and that means treating farms like the critical green infrastructure they are.”

Farms as Essential Infrastructure

Today, the GreenPods team has established itself as a fully integrated regenerative agriculture farm developer specializing in tree nuts to meet Europe’s rising demand for plant-based products. Their work is a scalable model for regenerative farming that treats orchards as critical infrastructure.

Their first expansion project is La Esperanza, a 105 hectare organic orchard in Maella, benefiting from the Ebro river basin’s abundant water reserves. The project will cultivate 50 hectares of almond trees and 55 hectares of olive trees helping to regenerate the land while reinvigorating rural economies.

“We are extremely proud to have built a diverse and binational company with Basque, Catalan, and French people working together.” Boris shares. “These efforts are not only for the environment, but for young farmers to believe in a brighter future and to know that they too can have a successful life in farming.”

Unlocking Economies of Scale

Farming, especially orchards, is capital-intensive with years of work before a single harvest. GreenPods has faced their fair share of challenges in getting their model off the ground.

Banks hesitate in providing loans. Insurance is limited and the system still favors low-cost imports over local produce, but Boris believes that scale will be the big unlock. “By standardizing orchard design, agronomic practices, and post-harvest systems,” Boriss explains. “GreenPods acquires bargaining power with suppliers, bringing efficiency to ecological farming.”

Reaching a certain volume also allows their sales and marketing teams to bypass middlemen and talk directly to clients so that higher prices can be passed down the value chain.

"Our vision is to bring more funding into agriculture with a proven replicable model. This is how we create a positive impact in rural areas that are being abandoned." Boris explains. “This isn’t just farming. It’s nation-building.”