Machinery: birth of a European brand
Sulky, Sky et Prolog become SKY Agriculture
By unveiling the new name that will bring its three historic brands under a single banner - SKY Agriculture - the family-owned French group Burel is finalising a transformation whose foundations were laid 10 years ago. It's an evolution which, beyond a simple change of identity, opens the way to a tenfold dynamic in terms of innovation serving agriculture throughout Europe.
While the discreet family group, owner of the historic Sulky, Prolog and Sky brands, is reporting record results for the 2022-2023 campaign, with consolidated sales of 85 million euros for the 22-23 financial year, its directors are continuing to work on its development. SKY Agriculture's stated aim? To be at the side of tomorrow's farmers, with a broad range of innovative equipment tailored to the new needs of European agriculture. In addition to the name change, this is the end result of careful consideration of a 'single brand' strategy and positioning, since the first milestones in the transformation of this solid group were laid 10 years ago.
Julien Burel, Group Chairman, explains: "Taking our time, without rushing things, in order to do things
in the right order, is part of our DNA. In 2018, we created the 'Farming Together' Baseline, which
initially served to materialise the link between our three brands Sulky, Prolog and Sky. In 2020, the
evolution continued with the legal restructuring of the group internally and the reorganisation of
the sales departments, after-sales service, parts... We started, so to speak, by redoing the inside of
the house before repainting the outside walls. And today, we can announce the culmination of our
work, with the birth of the SKY Agriculture brand.”
SKY Agriculture, is a condensed version of SULKY (SULKY) and looks to the future, with a name that's
easier to pronounce outside France and a determination to remain successful for the 20 coming years.
David Guy, Managing Director explains: "Just because things are going well doesn't mean we shouldn't
change anything. Our group is solid and has achieved excellent results in recent years. But things can
change quickly, as we experienced with covid, or with the war in Ukraine... So, we need to remain
cautious. By bringing our three brands together under a single banner, our aim is to be there in the
future to better support farmers as they move towards positive agriculture that meets
environmental and social challenges.”
This single-brand strategy also enables SKY Agriculture to adapt to the changing face of agricultural
equipment distribution in Europe: the market is becoming more concentrated, and the dealer network
is being restructured, with the number of dealers steadily declining over the last few years. The
creation of SKY Agriculture is also intended to support the Group's export growth. Although 40% of
sales are currently made outside France, SKY Agriculture is aiming to increase this proportion to 50%,
drawing on the dynamism of its 'development' department, which is focused on four key areas:
precision, technology, energy efficiency and agronomy.
With SKY Agriculture, there'll be no more blue, green and red in farmyards! All the brand's equipment
will be dressed in graphite grey and titanium white, which have the advantage of matching all tractor
colours. David Guy adds: "Gone are the days of colourful hitches! In choosing these high-tech colour
codes, we've also thought about the farmer, who can be proud of his hitch, whatever its colour.
SKY Agriculture
