End of August, BENEO started with processing chicory roots at its production site located in Oreye, Belgium. The special feature of this year’s chicory campaign season is that our team dedicated the first week to the processing of organic chicory. This was only the second production of this type. Conventionally grown chicory is delivered and processed right afterwards. 

Why organic inulin? BENEO has seen requests for organic variants constantly growing and is confident this move to expand the overall organic ingredients portfolio shows promise for new product developments in this growing area of the market. 

“An organic production needs to be well prepared upfront.The Agronomy, Production and Quality departments worked closely together to put in place procedures to control this specific process. Internal preparatory audits were also carried out to ensure that everything was ready and operational before the start-up.” 

Denis Vande Putte, Head of Quality for BENEO’s prebiotic fibres

BENEO’s organic fibre is a carefully grown and selected organic variant of its popular chicory root fibre. It is regionally grown and harvested by certified organic farmers in Belgium. The organic production of the Oreye factory is certified as well following a successful audit held during the process. 

“It was a quite difficult start-up this year. The extremely dry soil made the harvesting process difficult. Given that for the organic sector it is BENEO that takes care of the harvesting, we prepared well and with specific ‘fork’ machines, the organic roots could be moved out and carried to the factory.”

Jean Franc, Head of Agronomy

Throughout the entire chicory campaign, which is expected to end before Christmas, all the factory’s production units will be running at full capacity with increased seasonal manpower. A team of more than 300 workers is ensuring the campaign is running smoothly.

A huge thank you to each of them!