The Naturally Popcorn aim is to develop a sustainable, high-end popcorn industry and to enhance the value of each player in the value chain. This project has a budget of 7.4 million euros and will last 6 years. This project brings together 5 partners who are Nataïs, STMS, Agro d'Oc, UMR AGIR (INRAE) and CESBIO. This project is structured around 4 main axes:
1.    Using natural flavorings in the manufacture of popcorn to meet consumer expectations
2.    Improving the environmental and health qualities of products by replacing palm oil with sunflower oil, in particular
3.    To offer consumers transparency and traceability throughout the supply chain by developing a tool based on the data collected by the producer's management tool.
4.    Improve the sustainability of agricultural systems by increasing the use of agro-ecological practices through :
- The implementation of varieties more adapted to an agro-ecological transition,
- Support for the implementation of practices that improve soil fertility through intermediate cover,
- Improving water management,
- The development of a remuneration granted to farmers for the carbon sequestered by plant cover implemented on their corn fields.


The project Naturally Popcorn gathers 5 partners:
- Nataïs: Nataïs is the european leader in pop corn. It obtains most of its corn through its network of more than 250 producers. Nataïs is also the leader of this project.
- STMS: Private company based in Toulouse specialized in the development of digital traceability solutions. STMS will intervene on the traceability part of the finished product.
- Agro d'Oc : Regional agricultural cooperative organized in the Centre d'Etudes des Techniques Agricoles (CETA) and involved in the agro-ecological transition of cropping systems. Agro d'Oc includes a pole of consulting engineers who work with the 995 member farmers to accompany them in the transition of their systems. Based in Monferran-Savès in the Gers, it is particularly familiar with popcorn maize cultivation and maintains a regular and important collaboration with Nataïs (development of the technical guide, technical support, training, trials, etc.). On the project, she brings her expertise on agro-ecological transition as well as her capacity to develop remote sensing tools. Agro d'Oc will notably be an important partner for the project of remuneration of producers for carbon storage.
- CESBIO: Centre d'Etudes Spatiales de la Biosphère based in Toulouse, whose vocation is to develop knowledge on the functioning of the continental biosphere by
making extensive use of space-based remote sensing. On the project, CESBIO is participating in the modeling of a tool that will be presented later, in relation to the remuneration of carbon to farmers.
- INRAE: Institut National de Recherche en Agronomie et Environnement, as its name indicates, it is the French institute for research in agronomy. Its contribution to the project is its expertise on the agro-ecological transition of cropping systems.