Terres des Templiers: End of a Cooperative Model in Banyuls
Crushing debt and shrinking volumes push Banyuls’ leading producer toward judicial restructuring.
For decades, the cooperative GICB – Terres des Templiers has embodied the collective strength of the Banyuls-Collioure vineyards. Producing roughly half of the appellation’s total output, it long stood as the principal vinous force on the Côte Vermeille. Today, that model has reached a breaking point.
With production falling to just 9,000 hectolitres in 2025 and total debt climbing to €21 million, the cooperative is preparing to enter judicial restructuring. This step formally acknowledges a state of insolvency and, more significantly, marks the end of Terres des Templiers as a cooperative enterprise. Any future continuation of activity will take place under a different ownership and governance structure.
A Weight Once Proportional, Now Unsustainable
The paradox is stark. While Terres des Templiers remains the largest producer in Banyuls-Collioure, its scale has become incompatible with the reality of declining yields and market contraction. Annual revenue now hovers around €10 million, far from sufficient to service a debt load accumulated over more than a decade.
The cooperative has been under a safeguard plan since 2014. Despite repeated attempts to stabilise finances, structural costs remained anchored to a production level that no longer exists. The situation deteriorated steadily, leaving little room for manoeuvre.
The Mas Ventous Legacy
At the centre of the financial imbalance lies the Mas Ventous winery, operational since 2011. Conceived during a period when volumes exceeded 30,000 hectolitres, the facility was designed for 21,000 hectolitres of annual vinification. It now operates at less than half that capacity.
The economic consequences are severe: annual debt repayments of around €500,000, chronic cash shortfalls linked to underutilisation, and operating losses estimated at €600,000 per year. These fixed costs proved impossible to absorb as production continued its downward trajectory.
Growers Caught in the Middle
Of the cooperative’s 350 members, roughly sixty professional growers account for 80% of total volumes. Their remuneration stands at the heart of the current legal strategy. Approximately €6 million of the outstanding debt corresponds to payments owed to growers, who typically receive 30% of the value of the grapes they deliver.
Judicial restructuring is intended, in part, to secure €2.5 million necessary to compensate these growers for the current vintage. Preserving vineyard activity, even under new ownership, remains a priority to prevent further erosion of the local winegrowing fabric.
Commercial Setbacks and Public Support
The fragility of the business model was compounded by the sharp reduction of a major commercial partnership, which saw annual purchases fall from €1 million to €250,000 within a single year. This loss of outlet further destabilised cash flow at a critical moment.
Public authorities have previously stepped in. In 2019, the Occitanie region granted a repayable advance of €750,000 to support liquidity. Earlier, state and regional subsidies had significantly reduced the borrowing required to build Mas Ventous. Yet public support could not offset the long-term effects of declining production and shrinking markets.
From Cooperative Ideal to Investor-Led Future
Historically, the cooperative had already carried substantial debt, even during periods of strong turnover. When revenues exceeded €30 million, this burden remained manageable. Once volumes and sales contracted, the same debt became untenable.
Potential buyers have reportedly expressed interest in production assets, brands, and the image of Terres des Templiers. What will not survive is the cooperative governance itself. The transition now underway reflects a broader shift in certain French wine regions, where collective structures struggle to adapt to climate pressure, falling yields, and evolving market realities.
A Symbolic Turning Point for Banyuls
The impending restructuring of Terres des Templiers is more than a financial event. It represents a symbolic rupture in Banyuls, a region where cooperative identity once underpinned economic and social cohesion. Whether new ownership can preserve production, safeguard growers, and respect the singular identity of Banyuls wines remains an open question.
What is clear is that the cooperative chapter has closed. The future of Banyuls-Collioure will be written under a different model, shaped less by collective idealism than by the hard constraints of economic survival.