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{{Short description|Worldwide manufacturer of sugar, starch and bioethanol.}}
{{Primary sources|date=April 2010}}
{{Infobox company
| name             = Tereos S.A.
| logo             = Logo of Tereos (2024).svg
| image            = Tereos_syral.png
| image_caption    = Tereos facility in the city center of [[Aalst, Belgium|Aalst]]
| type             = [[Cooperative]]
| foundation       = (1999)
| location         = [[Moussy-le-Vieux]], France
| key_people       = Philippe de Raynal, ([[Chairman]]) Gérard Clay, ([[Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Tereos]])
| area_served      =
| industry         = [[Agriculture]] & [[Bioenergy]]
| products         = [[Sugar]], [[cereal]], [[bioethanol]], [[Ethanol|alcohol]], [[starch]]
| revenue          = {{profit}} [[Euro|€]] 4.5 Billion (2019/20)
| operating_income =
| net_income       =
| num_employees    = 22,300
| parent           =
| homepage         = {{URL|www.tereos.com}}
}}
'''Tereos''' is a [[cooperative]] conglomerate, primarily active in the processed agricultural raw materials, in particular [[sugar]], [[ethanol|alcohol]] and [[starch]] markets. It has 44 factories in 9 countries, including [[Brazil]], [[India]], [[Indonesia]], [[Kenya|Kenia]], [[Tanzania]], [[Belgium]] and [[France]]<ref>[https://tereosaalst.be/ons-bedrijf/ Our company: Tereo (in Dutch), Tereos Aalst website]</ref> and employs about 20.000 people.
The company is headquartered in [[Moussy-le-Vieux]], France.
==History==
In 1932, the [[Origny-Sainte-Benoite]] cooperative [[distillery]] was founded in the [[Aisne]] department of northern France by a number of farmers under the leadership of Paul Cavenne. The factory processed 400 tonnes of [[sugar beet]] per day. About twenty years later, Jean Duval, managing director of the cooperative, converted the distillery into a [[Beet sugar factory|sugar factory]], which was able to process 900 tonnes of sugar per day.
In the 1990s, the Origny cooperative merged with that of [[Vic-sur-Aisne]], which operate a sugar plant that handled 5,500 tonnes of sugar beet per day. The new entity was named SDA (Sucreries et Distilleries de l’Aisne). A year later, it acquired the Berneuil sugar factory in south-western France.
The acquisition of the leading French sugar producer, Béghin-Say from the Italian company Edison, in 2002, marked a turning-point. The combination of the two companies made the new cooperative group a French market leader with 9,500 cooperative growers. Tereos was born.
In 2006, Tereos merged with the cooperative group SDHF (Sucreries et Distilleries des Hauts de France). This extended the Group's business and strengthened its leadership on the French market.
In 2008, Tereos acquires, via subsidiary Syral, 5 starch and [[glucose]] factories in West-Europe from Talfiie (Tate & Lyle Food & Industrial Ingredients Europe), subsidiary of the company [[Tate & Lyle]].<ref>[http://www.agrapresse.fr/tereos-reprend-cinq-usines-au-groupe-tate-lyle-art220404-27.html Tereos reprend cinq usines au groupe Tate & Lyle], Agra presse, 14 mai 2007</ref>
In 2016, the Connantre sugar beet cooperative (Tereos Group) joined forces with the cooperative, APM Déshy, allowing Tereos to expand its business into [[alfalfa]] processing, with four dehydration plants in north-eastern France (in [[Anglure]], [[Aulnay-aux-Planches]], [[Montépreux]] and [[Pleurs]]).
Tereos SCA was created in 2018. The 12,000 cooperative grows now all belong to a single cooperative.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://tereos.com/en/group/history/ |access-date=2023-03-08 |website=Tereos |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2021, Tereos was ranked fifth overall on FoodTalks' Top 50 Global Sweetener Companies list.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Huang|first=Lemon|title=2021年全球甜味剂企业50强|url=https://www.foodtalks.cn/news/foodnews/top_100/5646|access-date=2022-01-24|website=FoodTalks|language=zh}}</ref>
In January 2022, Tereos announced the sale of its 11% stake in its joint venture with Axereal dedicated to malt as well as the closure of its sugar activities in Romania. In February, Tereos also announced the closure of its activities in Mozambique.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hamaide |first=Sybille De La |date=2022-01-12 |title=EXCLUSIVE Tereos to exit malt business, eyes Romanian sugar unit closure |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/exclusive-tereos-exit-malt-market-eyes-romanian-sugar-unit-closure-2022-01-12/ |access-date=2023-05-22}}</ref>
In February 2023, Tereos announced the sale of its activities in Romania to two local players.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-02-01 |title=Sugar maker Tereos to sell Romanian business to local investors |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/sugar-maker-tereos-sell-romanian-business-two-local-investors-2023-02-01/ |access-date=2023-05-22}}</ref>
== Activities ==
The Tereos product portfolio covers the markets of food, animal feed, green chemistry, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, paper and cardboard, and energies.
== Controversies ==
In recent years Tereos has been mired in controversy after several news reports highlighted the company's involvement in a number of dubious events. In 2019, a complaint was filed against the firm for allegedly supplying an artificial sweetener to [[Syria]], where it is being used to make weapons. In 2020, the region of [[Wallonia]] accused the company of a leak in its sugar beet refinery, causing 50-70 tonnes of fish to die in the [[Belgium|Belgian]] territory.<ref>[https://www.brusselstimes.com/all-news/business/107618/major-pollution-of-scheldt-river-came-from-france/ Major pollution of Scheldt river came from France]</ref>
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Alcohol fuel producers]]
[[Category:French companies established in 1999]]
[[Category:Food manufacturers of France]]
[[Category:Cooperatives in France]]
[[Category:Sugar companies]]
[[Category:Starch companies]]
[[Category:Companies based in Hauts-de-France]]
[[Category:Sugar industry of France]]