Long before the first sugar factory in Tienen opened its doors, sugar had already been on an exciting journey throughout the world's history. From a rare luxury in old civilisations to an everyday item in your cupboard: sugar has known a rich, international evolution. Read more about it!
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1575
The discovery of beet sugar
In the 14th century, large volumes of sugar cane are imported via the flourishing port of Bruges. Later, Antwerp took over that role. By 1550, the city had fifteen sugar refineries, many of which were located on the "Suikerrui" - a name that still lives on today. Today, Antwerp remains a sugar city, with the famous Candico site, specialised in candy sugar.
In 1575, the famous French agronomist Olivier de Serres discovered that sugar beets contain a sap that looks very similar to sugar syrup. Little attention was paid to this at the time because cane sugar was abundantly available via overseas trade.
This changed in 1806 when Napoleon imposed a continental blockade against Great Britain, largely halting the European import of cane sugar. Suddenly de Serres' discovery had a new meaning: sugar beets became the solution to securing the sugar supply. This gave a huge boost to the European sugar industry.
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1836
May 16th: Raffinerie Tirlemontoise sees the day
On this spring day the town of Tienen received requests for permits to build two new sugar factories. One from Joseph Vandenberghe de Binckom, whose factory later became Raffinerie Tirlemontoise, and one from Henry Vinckenbosch. The total number of sugar factories in Belgium, including these two sugar factories, amounted to 36. By 1843, a combined total of 3 million kilos of sugar had been produced per year.
In 1849, Joseph Vandenberghe de Binckom sold his sugar factory to Henry Vinckenbosch for the astronomic sum of 125,000 Belgian francs. The following years, different sugar factories are started up: Genappe, Wanze and Oostkamp.
On 17 September 1887 Raffinerie Tirlemontoise became a limited company and, in 1894, Paul and Franz Wittouck, the owners of the sugar factory in Wanze, purchased Raffinerie Tirlemontoise from the Vinckenbosch family.
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1919
Growth through innovations and investments
In 1919, the Tiense Suikerraffinaderij took an important step by starting to process sugar beets and use by-products. Since then, the entire beet has been used, including for by-products such as animal feed and fertilizers for agricultural land.
In the 1920's, the sugar factories of Wanze, Braives and Les Waleffes are completely integrated into RT Group, followed by the Sucreries de Genappe and the Sucrerie de Brugelette. Meanwhile, Wanze builds the two biggest horizontal silos in the world at that time. The engineers of Raffinerie Tirlemontoise design the RT Continuous Diffuser for extracting sugar out of beets that soon makes inroads in Europe and Asia.
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1957
European cooperation and the evolution of the sugar market
On 25 March 1957 the Treaty of Rome laid down the foundations of what is today called the European Union. Just one year later during the Stresa Conference, the cornerstones were laid for a Common European agricultural policy.
It would not be until 1 July 1968, however, that the general rules were established for sugar. At that time the Belgian quota for sugar was 550,000 tons per year. This system determined production quantities for years, until the quota were abolished in september 2017. This marked the beginning of a new era in the European sugar history and paved the way to a freer market. -
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1989
Raffinerie Tirlemontoise becomes part of European group
In 1989, Raffinerie Tirlemontoise became part of Südzucker, the largest sugar producer in Europe. This acquisition lead to a strong positioning within the international sugar market en offered new possibilities for innovation and growth. This increase in scale allowed Raffinerie Tirlemontoise to operate more efficiently and respond better to changing market conditions.
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Today
Sustainable investments and future-oriented innovation
Raffinerie Tirlemontoise continuously invests in sustainability and innovation. In 2023, a major modernisation was carried out in Tienen: the traditional horizontal diffusion drums were replaced by a diffusion tower, which ensures a more efficient and sustainable extraction process. In 2024 - 2025, another groundbreaking step was taken: the first industrial heat pump was put into use, a first in Europe.
With continuous investments in efficiency, technology, and sustainability, Raffinerie Tirlemontoise remains a leading player in the sugar industry, ready for the challenges of the future.
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Visit our factory
Have you always wanted to know how we make sugar? Then come have a look in our factory in Tienen. You can learn all about it during our campagne, which is from October to December.
