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Our history

Orpia Group was born from a simple observation; Ivory Coast is the world's leading producer of cashew nuts, accounting for >55% of the global production, and yet, more than 90% of these nuts are sent to Asia for processing. The shelled cashew nuts are then sent to Europe and North America for consumption... Balance sheet? The cashew nuts we eat have one in two chances of having travelled around the world before ending up on our plates.

After shelling, the emptied hulls are mostly burned, without any valorization. Seeing this desolate observation as a potential for innovation, Samuel Mamane (founder) teamed up with researchers from the CNRS (ICGM, Montpellier) to find a way to change the model and bring value to a biomass that is currently neglected. This is how ORPIA's adventure began in 2018.

“There is no such thing as chance,
things happen for a reason”

Several ways of recovering cashew hulls have been identified through this fruitful collaboration, offering innovative and effective solutions for many applications.

Within this seemingly innocuous biomass hides an oil, called Cashew Nut Shell Liquid (CNSL), unique in the plant kingdom due to its chemical structure (>95% natural, fatty phenolic compounds) and its availability (300,000 tons / year in Ivory Coast alone). It thus asserts itself as a natural choice for the green chemistry industry.

Building on these years of development within the R&D branch of ORPIA, ORPIA Group was founded in 2023 to commercialize CNSL-derived solutions in various markets: detergents, cosmetics, materials, animal feed, energy, environment, etc.

Witnessing the legitimate desire of African countries to develop more local cashew nut processing facilities, ORPIA Group has decided to support this virtuous dynamic via its subsidiary ORPIA Afrique, by offering West African manufacturers innovative technological solutions to fully recycle and valorize all their by-products. As both almonds and hulls are now recycled, the cashew sector benefits from an optimal value chain that facilitates investment in local industrial units. Thanks to the establishment of local partnerships with raw nut producers and processors, ORPIA Afrique has a true network of suppliers, industrial and engineering partners, ensuring optimal availability and quality of its raw material.

Our organization

3 ORPIA Group markets solutions developed by ORPIA Group
2 ORPIA Group is the group's R&D subsidiary responsible for developing new products
1 ORPIA Afrique operates on the field, as close as possible to the resources, and develops our industrial units with local partners and processors

Our team

Samuel Mamane President (CEO)
Vincent Rapinel Technical director (CTO),
PhD and process expert
Maxinne Denis Research engineer, PhD,
Customer relations and
communications manager
Amélie Frutos EHS engineer
Jennifer Li Research engineer,
Pilot production manager
Didier Lalou Administrative and Financial Director -
Chartered Accountant
Thomas Vignat Project manager based
in Ivory Coast
Samuel Mamane President (CEO)
Vincent Rapinel Technical director (CTO),
PhD and process expert
Maxinne Denis Research engineer, PhD,
Customer relations and
communications manager
Amélie Frutos EHS engineer
Jennifer Li Research engineer,
Pilot production manager
Didier Lalou Administrative and Financial Director -
Chartered Accountant
Thomas Vignat Project manager based
in Ivory Coast

Our experts

Jean Louis Bayer PhD in Pharmacology: Expert in Fine Chemistry
(former R&D Director of Minakem)
Michel Hocquaux PhD in Pharmacology: Cosmetics Expert
(former R&D Director at L'Oréal)
Daniel Bercovici Animal feed expert, President of IFIF
(International Feed Industry Federation)
Sylvain Caillol PhD in Polymer Chemistry - Polymer
and Materials Expert, Research
Director at CNRS
Christophe Lescroart Industrialization Expert,
COO Tereos
Jean Louis Bayer PhD in Pharmacology: Expert in Fine Chemistry
(former R&D Director of Minakem)
Michel Hocquaux PhD in Pharmacology: Cosmetics Expert
(former R&D Director at L'Oréal)
Daniel Bercovici Animal feed expert, President of IFIF
(International Feed Industry Federation)
Sylvain Caillol PhD in Polymer Chemistry - Polymer
and Materials Expert, Research
Director at CNRS
Christophe Lescroart Industrialization Expert,
COO Tereos

Strategic Committee

Jacques Attali Polytechnique:
strategic advisor
Lionel Vaturi Centrale Paris:
strategic advisor
Maud Thevenot strategic advisor
Jacques Attali Polytechnique:
strategic advisor
Lionel Vaturi Centrale Paris:
strategic advisor
Maud Thevenot strategic advisor

Our locations

FRANCE

PARIS

Headquarters:
CEO and 6 experts

MONTPELLIER

R&D Laboratory:
2 PhD, 2 Engineers

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IVORY COAST

ABIDJAN

Orpia Afrique Office

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Our partners