Tereos Syral is the cereal processing subsidiary of the cooperative Tereos group. The company already processes wheat, corn and cassava in its European and Brazilian plants into starch, glucoses and their derivatives.
Now, in a bid to provide potato-sourced starches and ingredients, the producer hopes to acquire 75% of the Haussimont plant, while keeping two other shareholders alongside it: SCAF (Société Cooperative Agricole Féculerie de Haussimont), which it said will ensure the long-term supply of raw materials to the factory and SPhere, which is active in bioplastics.
Pascal Foy, SCAF president, welcomed the move: “The backing of one of the [leading] European starch operators would most certainly be a guarantee of continuity for Féculerie d’Haussimont and for the production of potato in our regions.”
Pierre-Christophe Duprat, president of Tereos Syral, told FoodNavigator.com that “assuming that transaction is closed, Tereos Syral will be in a position to produce potato starch at Haussimont from January 2012 onwards and to increase its range of starch products in the next two or three years.”
Migration into potato starch
When asked what the trigger for acquiring the controlling share of the potato share, he said the company has been active for many years in cereal transformation in Europe and has been expanding of late.
Recently, the company has “established itself in tapioca production in Brazil and we also plan to expand into China." These developments, added Duprat, prompted the supplier to "examine the needs of the market in terms of tuber starch.”
Féculerie d’Haussimont, which has an annual turnover of €33m, processes approximately 300,000 tonnes of potato on top of 60,000 tonnes of starch which are used in the food, paper and corrugated board industries as well as bio plastics.
Duprat said that around two thirds of the starch produced at Haussimont’s plant will be used by the food industry, the rest by the paper/cardboard industry and the bioplastics sector.
FIE launches
The FIE show in Paris saw product range extension releases from Tereos Syral including glucose syrups Mylose 351 and maltodextrin Maldex 060, with the company saying customer feedback informed modifications to the existing range.
“Small adjustments in the ingredient composition can improve processability or end product's characteristics. Because we have a long-time expertise in sweeteners processing and formulation, we know how to fine tune our products range to better match specific needs,” said the starch producer.
And its new wheat protein ingredient, Meripro 500, answers “several of our customer's concerns: cost optimization, formulating with vegetable ingredients, alternatives to dairy products, and sustainability.”
The Tereos group is owned by 12,000 cooperative partners, it ranks second in terms of European manufacturers of sugar with a €4.4bn turnover, and is the third largest European manufacturer of cereal-based starch and its derivatives (native and modified starches, glucose syrup, polyols and alcohols).