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Sugar beet is a temperate root crop that stores sucrose in its taproot. Tereos is one of the world's largest beet processors, operating factories across northern France and the Czech Republic. The entire beet is valorised: roots yield sugar and ethanol, pulp becomes animal feed, and lime residues return to fields as fertiliser — a true circular agriculture model.
Sugar beet processing exemplifies circular economy principles with near-total raw material utilisation.
Beets are sown in spring and harvested in autumn. Tereos agronomists advise farmers on variety selection, pest management, and sustainable practices through the growing season.
Harvested beets are transported to the factory, weighed, sampled for sugar content, and washed to remove soil and stones before processing.
Beets are sliced into thin cossettes and sugar is extracted through hot-water diffusion. The resulting raw juice contains approximately 14% sucrose.
Raw juice is purified with lime and carbon dioxide, then evaporated in multi-effect evaporators to concentrate the syrup before crystallisation.
Concentrated syrup is crystallised in vacuum pans and centrifuged to produce white sugar. The sugar is dried, cooled, and stored in silos for packaging and dispatch.
