News Sugar beets
Tereos processes first organic beets this year
The French sugar beet processor Tereos will start processing organically grown sugar beets this harvest year. An area of 200 hectares is cultivated for this purpose. Several European sugar processors are experimenting with growing organic beets.
The Tereos factory in Attin, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, will process the organically grown beets before the normal harvest starts. In total, it has found 30 growers willing to grow 200 hectares together. It concerns existing organic farms and arable farmers in conversion.
Weed control as a challenge
The biggest challenge so far has been weed control. It must be completely mechanical. Tereos is still doing research in this area, together with various research institutes. "Organic sugar is not a foreign product for Tereos," says chairman Jean-Charles Lefebvre. “Our subsidiary Loiret & Haentjens has been selling organic cane sugar for 15 years. Due to the strong demand for organic and locally produced sugar, we now see good opportunities for beet sugar.”
It is not the only biological adventure of Tereos, which is also engaged in the production of organic alfalfa and vegetable protein. Now that the international sugar sector is in a slump, the alternatives are beckoning for a higher price. Many European processors are therefore investigating the possibilities.
Role Sugar Union
Suiker Unie already gained a lot of experience with organic beets in the past and has no plans for the time being to bring the cultivation back to the Netherlands. In their German factory in Anklam, they have started a trial to grow organic beets. Because this factory is much smaller than the 2 in the Netherlands, it is more practical to have the processing take place here.
Niels van der Boom
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