DuPont and Tereos Start a New Natural Betaine Production Facility in France

The joint investment by two global leaders results in the world’s first facility to produce betaine from vinasse.

10 Jul 2012 --- DuPont, a world leader in market-driven innovation and science, and Tereos, a global player in the primary processing of sugar beet, sugarcane and cereals, celebrate the culmination of a joint investment by announcing the start-up of the first facility in the world to produce betaine from vinasse. In 2011, DuPont acquired Danisco, forming two new business units Nutrition and Health and Industrial Biosciences. Initiated in 2010, prior to the acquisition, this pioneering investment will allow DuPont to better satisfy market demand for natural betaine.

Officially launched on July 9th 2012, the betaine production facility started its activity on April 17th 2012 on a rate of 24/24, 235 day per year.

The new dedicated betaine production facility is located within Tereos’ existing distillery, the biggest sugar beet distillery in the world, at Origny-Sainte-Benoîte (France). This site is the world’s largest single source of natural betaine and will be managed and operated by Tereos. DuPont in collaboration with Novasep Process, is responsible for building the process line which combines Danisco’s proprietary chromatographic technology with membrane and evaporation steps to produce the natural betaine.

Natural betaine is used in a large variety of different applications across many markets, in particular as a technical additive in animal feed. For DuPont Industrial Biosciences, the natural betaine product Betafin® is a key element supporting the business’ strategy of providing healthy nutrition solutions to the animal feed industry. The osmolytic and hydration functionality of Betafin provides exceptional value to producers by improving livestock intestinal health and reduces the negative impact of heat and disease challenges that can disrupt the animals’ water balance.

Since the early 1990s, when Danisco’s pioneering research into the applications of natural betaine in animal nutrition clearly demonstrated superior value compared to synthetic analogs, supply has been outweighed by market demand. This opening in Origny will bring DuPont closer to meeting market demand by increasing substantially the availability of natural betaine from early 2013.

Opportunity to increase the value of distillery by-product For Tereos, this partnership is a unique opportunity to extract further value from a distillery byproduct and develop its industrial know-how through large scale production. This new activity has created 20 permanent jobs in the Origny sugar factory-distillery. “As the world population is growing, DuPont is committed to delivering solutions for a strong global food demand, commented Jaes C. Collins, President of DuPont Industrial Biosciences. Our science and innovation capabilities, together with our collaborative approach, ensure we are able to meet the needs of the market while creating new opportunities”.

Yves Belegaud, Executive Officer of Tereos France, said: “We are very pleased to launch this new industrial production facility in Origny with such a prestigious partner as DuPont. This opening is the recognition of 80 years of know-how in the sugar beet industry developed in Origny. Thanks to this new industrial unit and the large volume that we will be able to supply, Tereos France will be developing a new source of income from its by-products and deliver greater value to our sugar beet growers”.