Our organisation
Raffinerie Tirlemontoise is the market leader in Belgium and has several branches dotted around the country. It employs a total of about 600 people.
We produce sugar for industry (mainly bulk sugar) and for everyday consumption (Hard Sugar Cubes, powdered sugar, cassonade, etc.), both in Belgium and in Europe and on the world market. None of the sugar beet is lost. All by-products from sugar production are valued and given a second life, usually in agriculture.
The daily management is in the hands of Guy Paternoster:
Südzucker
Since 1989, Raffinerie Tirlemontoise has been part of the Südzucker AG group. This group is a globally active European food group and has more than 16,000 employees.
The Südzucker group is about more than just sugar. The production of bioethanol, fruit preparations and other products is also part of the core activities of the German food company. You can find more information on the Südzucker website.
Bioethanol is produced in Belgium in BioWanze. This plant was started up at the start of the 21st century and is almost self-sufficient in its energy production and moreover its CO2 footprint is reduced by more than 70% compared to fossil fuels. Raffinerie Tirlemontoise has invested more than 250 million in this factory and supplies one of its by-products as raw material, namely molasses.
The Beneo activity group specializes in extraction of inulin and oligofructose from chicory. Also here, Raffinerie Tirlemontoise played a major role with the creation of Orafti, which was later integrated into Beneo.