FOUNDER
Patrick Chatenay
Founder of ProSunergy
Patrick Chatenay has been involved with the sugar industry since 1985. Through 40 years of experience in managerial, analytical, and board-level roles in various regulatory environments in different countries, Patrick has acquired a deep understanding of sugar industry issues. In 2008, after eighteen years on the Executive Board of Saint Louis Sucre, he founded ProSunergy.
FOUNDER
Sectors
Sugar, renewable energy, bio-fuels
Executive roles
Saint Louis Sucre - Azucarera Ebro - IANSA
Company
ProSunergy UK Limited, Canterbury, United Kingdom
BACKGROUND
Four decades in the sugar industry
Patrick Chatenay has been involved with the sugar industry since 1985 when he joined Saint Louis Sucre, at that time the second-largest sugar producer in France, as Director for Economic Analysis. In 1990 he was appointed to Saint Louis’s Executive Board where he was in charge of strategic analysis, data processing and management accounting, and on which he served until he left the company in 2008.
As part of his responsibilities for Saint Louis he acted as Assistant Managing Director of Azucarera Ebro, the largest Spanish sugar producer, and as a board member of IANSA, the Chilean sugar producer and food processor.
From 2003 to 2008, Patrick researched investment opportunities in the Brazilian sugar/alcohol industry for the Südzucker Group, following its acquisition of Saint Louis Sucre in 2000.
In 2008, he founded ProSunergy, which provides strategic advice and implementation services for the world’s sugar, renewable energy and bio-fuel industries.
Patrick is an Independant Nen-Executive Director of Miwa Sugar Limited, which produces sugar in Kenya and Tanzania.
CAREER
Key positions
1985 - 2008
Executive board member
Saint Louis Sucre, then the second-largest sugar producer in France
2000-2004
Deputy Managing Director
Azucarera Ebro SL, Madrid, Spain
Since 2008
Founder
ProSunergy Limited
2018-2026
Board Member / Governance Committee Chair
Alteo Limited / Miwa Sugar Limited
EDUCATION
MBA
Columbia University, New York, USA
Masters in Econometrics
Université de Paris X, Paris, France
Diploma
Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, France
INTERNATIONAL
Patrick has wide international experience. Although born in Geneva, Patrick lived for the first seven years of his life in New York City. Since then he has lived, studied or worked in places as far apart as Washington DC, Pittsburgh, Paris, Madrid, São Paulo and Port-Vila (Vanuatu).
Paris - Madrid - Sao Paulo - Pittsburgh - Washington DC - New York - Port Vila
Discuss a project with Patrick
A question about the sugar industry, an investment or a strategic issue ? Write to Patrick Chatenay
Insights
Analyses by Patrick Chatenay
Reference analysis
Investing in sugar
A short introduction
Investing in the sugar industry requires a careful understanding of agricultural economics, industrial performance, market dynamics and government policy. Despite its capital-intensive nature and long payback periods, the sector offers opportunities for long-term investors when projects are properly structured and managed.
Topics : success rules, economic development, investing in Sub-Saharan Africa
Reference analysis
Sugar asset resilience
In sugar industry, the past matters
Sugar asset resilience is rooted in the long lifespan of industrial equipment and the gradual evolution of sugar production technologies. In a capital-intensive industry, factories can remain productive for decades, making asset durability a defining feature of long-term investment in the sugar sector.
Topics : industrial asset longevity, sugar production technology, industrial productivity, economies of scale...
Reference analysis
Does the EU Know It Is Killing Its Sugar Industry?
EU sugar industry policy
The European sugar industry faces growing pressure from trade agreements, preferential imports and changing agricultural policies. In this article, Patrick Chatenay examines how EU regulations influence the financial sustainability of domestic sugar production and questions whether current policies are compatible with maintaining a viable European sugar industry.
Topics : EU sugar policy, international trade, sugar industry sustainability
Services
Strategic advice and implementation services
ProSunergy provides strategic, advisory and implementation services for sugar, sugar-based renewable energy and bio-fuel industries worldwide.
01
Strategic analysis
For companies operating in the sugar, electricity and renewable-fuels industries.
02
Investments, merges & acquisitions
Identifying, evaluating and organising investments — from agricultural operations and mills to logistics and sales.
03
Regulatory frameworks
Analysis and design of regulatory frameworks conducive to the development of a robust sugar and ethanol sector.
04
Implementation support
Transaction negotiations and assistance in recruiting key managers.
Sweet power, worldwide
"What is strategic is structural, it can be changed neither quickly nor cheaply"
The aim of strategy analysis is to discover and quantify the levers which drive the financial results of a business over the long run.