Nordzucker Post 3/2024 - 25 July 2024

Nordzucker – Plant Based Ingredients: Great interest from growers

Farmers were able to register online until the beginning of June, after which they received an initial contract offer for pea cultivation. More than 800 growers had registered by the beginning of July and submitted their offer quantities. ‘We are delighted with the excellent result and the positive response,’ says Claus-Friso Gellermann, Managing Director of Nordzucker Plant Based Ingredients GmbH. With the first contract offers, we have succeeded in making the grain pea a competitive alternative in cash crop production. In addition, the supply of raw materials from regional cultivation was secured right from the start.

The downside: ‘There are more interested parties than we need for the first year of cultivation in 2025. The offers submitted exceed the volume required for the planned initial processing capacity of the factory in Groß Munzel,’ explains Gellermann. ‘Unfortunately, we are therefore unable to offer every prospective grower a contract for 2025 and have to make a selection.’

The good news: ‘As production capacity will be gradually increased over the next few years, we will then be able to offer more and more growers a contract to cover the growing volume demand. This will also open up prospects for interested parties who are not yet successful in the first step.’ The cultivation contracts for the 2026 harvest year will be offered in spring 2025.

From 2026, the grain peas will be processed into protein concentrate and texturate for food production at the Nordzucker site in Groß Munzel. The ground-breaking ceremony for the new plant will be in November 2024.