Two centuries of success Tereos TTD

TWO CENTURIES OF SUCCESS

Tereos TTD is the leading beet-processing group in the Czech Republic and one of the top 10 food producers in the country. Since 1992, the company has been an affiliate of Tereos, one of the world’s largest sugar, alcohol and starch producers. In 2016, three factories from within the group are commemorating significant anniversaries of their operations, going back to over a hundred years. Romana Moares reports.

The joint stock company Tereos TTD has become the leading Czech producer of sugar and alcohol (fine, technical, bioethanol). In its five factories, the company makes about 300,000 mt of sugar (in its Dobrovice and České Meziříčí sugar factories) and 1,000,000 hl of alcohol from sugar beet each year (bioethanol in the Dobrovice distillery and fine and technical alcohol in the Chrudim and Kojetín distilleries). Its Mělník packaging unit processes up to 90,000 mt of sugar into retail packaging every year.

The company history goes back to 1831 when sugar production first started in the Dobrovice sugar factory. Over the past few years, the Dobrovice sugar factory has been thoroughly modernised and is now one of the largest units of its kind in the CEE. Sugar beet – as raw material not only for food production (sugar) but lately also for renewable energy production (bioethanol) – has been supplied by roughly 500 growers, from a total acreage amounting to 37,000 ha.

The Dobrovice bioethanol plant is the first industrial distillery in the Czech Republic to produce water-free fermentation alcohol (bioethanol). Bioethanol production was launched in 2006. The raw material – sugar beet – is processed in the sugar factory into a raw juice that is subsequently used to make the final product.

Continuing tradition

The Dobrovice sugar factory was founded 185 years ago by Count Thun-Taxis, and has survived a long line of owners as well as historical events. In 1992 it was acquired by French Union SDA. For the French stakeholders, this was the first foreign acquisition, and was in line with their strategy to expand into the central and eastern European markets.

Today, 25 years later, it is safe to say that their investment has been returned many times over. In the course of these two decades, Union SDA changed its name to Tereos, but – most importantly – increased production 50-fold to become one of the largest producers of sugar, consumer alcohol, renewable resources and starch products not just in France but on a global scale. The group now

NEVASTANE

Petrolejářská a energetická společnost TOTAL dlouhodobě vyvíjí speciální maziva pro potravinářské stroje a zařízení, která i v případě jejich možného úniku zajišťují jejich bezpečnou výrobu potravin. Jedná se o netoxická maziva certifikovaná pro možný kontakt s potravinami dle mezinárodního systému NSF H1 (National Sanitation Foundation). Tato maziva řady NEVASTANE na bázi tzv. bílých olejů, tedy vícenásobně rafinovaných bílých olejů na ropné minerální a syntetické bázi, neobsahují nežádoucí cyklické polyaromatické uhlovodíky. Maziva svojí strukturou vyhovují rovněž systému HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point), tedy systému kritických bodů, jež se zpracovávají pro příslušnou technologii výroby potravin. Maziva NEVASTANE (mazací oleje a plastická maziva) jsou úspěšně aplikována ve strojích na výrobu cukru na základě dlouhodobé spolupráce společnosti TOTAL ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA s.r.o. a TEREOS TTD, a.s.

Maziva NEVASTANE pro potravinářské stroje

• Převodové oleje na ropné minerální bázi NEVASTANE EP • Převodové oleje na syntetické bázi NEVASTANE SH, XSH • Plastická maziva NEVASTANE XMF, XS • Víceúčelový adhezivní olej ve spreji NEVASTANE LUBE AEROSOL • Vodě odolné plastické mazivo ve spreji NEVASTANE GREASE AEROSOL

operates 45 factories in 13 countries in Europe, South America and Asia. “The acquisition of the Dobrovice sugar plant was the very first step towards this worldwide growth,” points out Oldřich Reinberger, managing director of Tereos TTD.

Today the Dobrovice factory is the largest and most modern plant in central and eastern Europe, competing with the best sugar processors in the most advanced sugar-making countries such as France and Germany. The current daily processing capacity amounts to up to 15,000 tonnes of sugar beet.

New investment

In 2006, the Dobrovice premises were extended with the addition of another plant, housing the first water-free spirit production in the Czech Republic. “The idea to build a distillery was triggered by the restructuring of sugar processing in the EU, as a result of which there was a surplus of sugar beet in the Czech Republic. It was decided that the raw material would be used for the production of a renewable energy source – water-free fermentation alcohol,” explains Mr Reinberger.

The distillery launched the production of a water-free spirit in 2006, and shortly after the plant started to supply bioethanol E85 to the Czech market. In 2015, this fuel was available in over 300 petrol stations in the country. The annual output of one million hectolitres makes this the largest industrial distillery in the Czech Republic and the most modern distillery in the central European region.

However, the company’s development did not end with one sugar making plant and distillery. Since the French investors acquired the company, several other acquisitions of large sugar making groups have been completed, such as Pražská cukerní společnost (six factories), the České cukrovary holding (12 factories) and the Chrudim a Kojetín distilleries.

“Under the supervision of the parent company, we have become a leader in the sugar-making and distillery sectors in the Czech Republic and one of the major players in the region. Tereos TTD has become a trusted and stable partner for the sugar beet suppliers, customers, employees and well as for the general public,” says the managing director.

Leader in its sector

Of all the acquired sugar factories, the only other sugar making facility is in České Meziříčí (other sugar factories in Mělník have been transformed into packaging centre for Tereos TTD Cukr Czech Republic). The sugar factory České Meziříčí, as well as the Chrudim distillery, are commemorating the 145th anniversary of their establishment this year. The Chrudim distillery has become, with its annual capacity of 200,000 hectolitres of high quality consumer spirit, a major distillery in the Czech Republic and a stable supplier to the most renowned producers of alcoholic drinks not only in the country but in the whole of Europe.

“The long and rich history of Tereos TTD Cukr Czech Republic is, no doubt, remarkable. However, today, at a time of subsiding sugar market regulation and the onset of liberalisation, the focus needs to be on the future,” says the managing director. “We believe that we are well prepared for future challenges.”

And so it seems. With its two state-of-the-art sugar factories, distilleries as well as the modern packaging centre in Mělník, the group has a firm footing. All of its operating facilities employ the latest technologies, not just in terms of manufacturing but also in terms of the quality and environmental aspects. Supplies of sugar beet have been secured by long-term contracts with a large number of growers. The customer base both in the Czech Republic, elsewhere in Europe as well as further afield is continuously growing. n