Tereos (Aalst)

Tereos (Aalst) refers to the Belgian starch- and sugar-processing operation in Aalst associated with the Tereos group. Its industrial history began in 1873, when the company Callebaut, Frères et Lejeune was established to make glucose. Over time, ownership and company names changed repeatedly; the site became part of Tereos through the group’s acquisition of Syral, and it was renamed Tereos Syral in 2010 before being referred to simply as Tereos. The Aalst factory processes wheat and sugar into ingredients and co-products for food, animal-feed, paper and corrugated-board customers. Reported products include dextrose, fructose and glucose syrups, crystalline dextrose, wheat starch, modified wheat starch, maltose syrup and maltodextrin powder. The site also began producing bioethanol in 2008. The available sources describe the operation as serving industrial customers rather than primarily selling branded consumer foods. The factory is part of a wider French cooperative group. Tereos describes itself as a farmer cooperative and reports activities across food, energy, animal nutrition, green chemistry, pharmacy, personal care, and paper and board. Its homepage reports operations in 12 countries, 38 industrial sites and 14,300 employees worldwide; those figures refer to the group, not specifically to Aalst. The supplied local-company source reports approximately 400 employees at the Aalst operation. The evidence does not identify a separate Aalst chief executive or give the site’s detailed current corporate structure.

The industrial predecessor of the Tereos operation in Aalst was founded on 23 June 1873 as Callebaut, Frères et Lejeune – Fabrique de Glucoses. The founding partners were the three Callebaut brothers, Philemon Frans, Edouard Petrus and Felix Alexander, and Joseph Frans Lejeune. The business made glucose, which was then a less expensive alternative to sugar. It began in buildings near the Dender, where water transport could bring in raw materials, and grew into a substantial factory presence on Aalst’s Chipka island. The company’s name and ownership changed through a long sequence of reorganisations. In 1883, after Joseph Lejeune’s departure and the deaths of two of the Callebaut brothers, Prosper Callebaut took charge and the business became Callebaut Frères. It was renamed Ancienne-Firme Callebaut Frères in 1914 and SA PRODUMA in 1924. In 1926 it joined with Brussels-based La Glucose Of Lic-Frères to form Glucoseries Réunies, expanding milling capacity. The operation adopted the name G.R. Amylum in 1975, reflecting its broader grain-derivative activities, and also began processing wheat in addition to maize. In 1987 Amylum acquired the Dutch starch company De Bijenkorf (ZBB). Tate & Lyle, which had held an interest in Amylum since 1976 and increased that stake in 1988, acquired the remaining shares in 2000. The Amylum name was changed to Tate & Lyle in 2004. In 2007 Tate & Lyle sold the business to Syral, a Tereos subsidiary. In 2010 the Aalst operation was renamed Tereos Syral; it is now commonly referred to as Tereos. The factory’s activity broadened beyond glucose to wheat processing and a range of starches, sweeteners, fibres, proteins and other co-products. It supplies customers in food, animal feed, paper and corrugated-board industries. The available local history reports that bioethanol production began at the site in 2008. A fatal lorry accident outside the factory in December 2019 brought attention to truck traffic around the site. In January 2020, a fence was installed around the parking area, and the city introduced a truck-weight restriction during school rush hours. The supplied sources give no further dated history of the Aalst operation after these events, though the Tereos group’s current website presents the group as operating across multiple countries and industrial sites.

• Callebaut, Frères et Lejeune founded

• Business becomes Callebaut Frères

• Renamed Ancienne-Firme Callebaut Frères

• Renamed SA PRODUMA

• Glucoseries Réunies formed

• Adopts the G.R. Amylum name

• Amylum acquires De Bijenkorf

• Tate & Lyle acquires remaining Amylum shares

• Amylum name changed to Tate & Lyle

• Business sold to Syral

• Bioethanol production begins

• Renamed Tereos Syral

• Fatal lorry accident near the factory

• Parking-area fence installed

An industrial ingredient producer within the Tereos cooperative group, processing wheat and sugar for food and other industrial markets.

• Dextrose syrup

  A listed sweetener ingredient produced at the Aalst factory.

• Crystalline dextrose

  A listed crystalline sweetener product.

• Fructose syrup

  A listed syrup product.

• Wheat starch and modified wheat starch

  Starch products listed for the factory.

• Glucose syrup and maltose syrup

  Sweetener syrups listed among the factory's products.

• Maltodextrin powder

  A powdered ingredient listed among the factory's products.

• Bioethanol

  Production at the Aalst site reportedly began in 2008.

• Factory truck traffic and fatal accident

Read more

• Parking access changed after accidentOther

1. 1Tereos (Aalst)nl.wikipedia.org
2. 2Groupe coopératif sucrier français - Tereostereos.com
3. 3Gouvernance - Tereostereos.com
4. 4Notre histoire - Tereostereos.com
5. 5Tereos (Aalst)wikidata.org