The potato processing company Clarebout has plans to build a new factory in Dunkirk. Dunkirk is a French city near the border with Belgium. This new factory would be the company's first foreign factory, Clarebout indicates.
The plan is for the factory to be located in the port of Dunkirk. The investment amounts to €140 million. A third of French potatoes are grown in the Dunkirk area, and 4,3% of all potatoes in Europe. This is “the place to be, for a major player in the sector”, according to a spokesperson for Clarebout. Clarebout filed a file with authorities in France. However, all approvals have not yet been completed.
The plans in France will not change the projects underway in Belgium, according to Clarebout. Clarebout wants to build on that in Frameries. However, this delivered quite well some protests. Local residents there are protesting against the construction as they believe the factory would cause a lot of inconvenience. People are afraid of noise pollution and environmental pollution.
Monster growth
The two expansions in Dunkirk and Frameries indicate that Clarebout is committed to a monster growth. Clarebout has the ambition to significantly increase production capacity. The growth must be accommodated with more acreage among existing growers, but also with expansion in new cultivation areas in France.