“For lack of a buyer”, the agri-food giant Tereos announced on Tuesday the closure of its potato starch processing plant in Haussimont (Marne), in a press release. The cooperative group had indicated in June that it was considering closing this site, which employs 62 people, in a circular addressed to its planter cooperators and consulted by AFP.
This will be the third Tereos site affected by a closure in a few months, after the Escaudoeuvres sugar refinery (Nord), recently acquired by the Belgian company Agristo, and the Morains distillery (Marne). “We took the time and provided the necessary means to find a solution that would allow the activity of the starch factory to be maintained. Today, in view of the evolution of this track, it is our responsibility to think about other solutions for the Haussimont site”, indicates Christophe Lescroart, director of agricultural and industrial activities Europe of Tereos, quoted in the press release.
“We are going to work and co-construct a transition project with the Haussimont teams (62 employees); looking for a buyer to relaunch another industrial activity is a path that we must now explore”, he continues. Tereos specifies that the closure project has no impact on the 2023-2024 potato starch campaign which will be launched on September 20. France currently has only two starch factories, that of Haussimont and that of Vecquemont (Somme, Roquette group).
In early July, the Ministry of Agriculture announced the payment of aid of five million euros to growers of potatoes intended for processing into starch in order to stem the decline of this crop. Potato starch is sold to food companies to bind and thicken a preparation. This starch is also used in stationery, making biodegradable bags or cosmetics. Tereos, a cooperative group that owns the Béghin Say and La Perruche brands, announced in June that it had turned the page on an “unprecedented crisis” and achieved “record” operating profit in the 2022-23 financial year, boosted by sugar prices. .
