A company built on a human scale

Rooted in sustainable development that is at once, environmental, social and societal,
the Group pursues its strategy with some fundamental principles that have been
the bases for the success of its development, its globalization and its diversification.

R&D: performance and innovation

The Group pays constant attention to the research that will allow it to move forward in multiple directions.

Here are some examples:

- The part of the oak actually used to make staves is extremely small, around 20%. The group is committed to the optimal use of what is a rare and living raw material and therefore constantly refines processes that allow it a better use of wood. Its research has focused on the entire chain, from the tree to the barrel through the mill where the wood is cut, as well as on the optimization of the stave milling and the reuse of any waste through the creation of wood products for oenology.

- Measuring accurately the contribution of the barrel in terms of tannins to the making of wine is a major challenge in refining the vinification process and meeting the specific needs of winemakers. The Group has developed precise and sophisticated heating processes that allow efficient control according to the objectives pursued.

- Wood products for oenology originally were simply economically attractive because it is always cheaper to put the wood in the wine, through the so-called infusion technique, than it is to raise wines in barrels. Research and innovation however have made it a business in its own right, which, beyond the reuse of the wood waste left over from the manufacture of barrels and vats, offers an alternative to traditional breeding in barrels, thus enlarging the range of wines eligible for aging through wood.

Development by men

The construction of TFF Group was always based on ancestral and traditional know-how in the wood trades and a very close proximity to the winemakers in each terroir.

This know-how is carried and transmitted by men and teams whose gestures, techniques and traditions are highly valued, even as the search for optimization, growth and exchange of know-how continues.

The Group has always favoured small specialised, autonomous structures focused on their specific areas of expertise.

Its development through external growth has, in the same way, operated by federating companies with complementary activities, conserving their structures and their teams, through the practice of a broad policy of autonomy and delegation of responsibilities.

Patronage: our commitment

TFF Group aims to be a socially conscious corporate entity which seeks, along with its customers and partners, to build value. Thus, TFF Group is committed to societal issues.

“La Cité du Vin” in Bordeaux

By joining forces with “La Cité du Vin” created by Alain Juppé, TFF Group wanted to show that it shared the values that it embodies:

- a respect for the land and for sustainable development

- the search for quality

- the importance of innovation

During Vinexpo in June 2013, the foundation stone of the museum was laid.

«... For our century-old company, exercising a thousand-year-old profession, this opportunity to participate in the transmission of the heritage of the wine culture, to promote its protection, its influence, and to contribute to the clarification of its meaning, is a mission that sits perfectly with our philosophy ... "

Jérôme FRANÇOIS - June 2013

Climates of Burgundy

Always concerned by environmental issues, Tonnellerie François Frères, the Group's 100-year-old parent company, enthusiastically endorsed the movement to support the nomination of the Burgundy vineyards as a UNESCO heritage site.

Indeed, the notion of the « climate », in terms of wine - and especially in Burgundy - incorporates, beyong meteorology, many notions among which that of "know how". Already nearly 50,000 people have signed up to support this UNESCO world heritage nomination.