Cosucra scores €10M to bolster Wallonian chicory and pea production

15 Jul 2021 --- Belgian natural ingredients processor Cosucra is receiving €10 million (US$11.8 million) in a bond issue to strengthen its chicory and pea protein production capacity.

The current investment comes from The Société Régionale d’Investissement de Wallonie (SRIW), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Sofiprotéol, an Avril Group financing company.

“The transformation of agricultural practices toward sustainable agriculture and the supply of local raw materials are two cumulative challenges,” Hélène Lenfant, internal communication coordinator at Cosucra, tells NutritionInsight.

“They are necessary to ensure transparency in the chain and allow a fair remuneration of agricultural efforts by consumers. The processing industry is best placed in the chain to play this role which will take a decade to achieve.”

Specifically, Cosucra aims to use the funding to improve its industrial equipment performance and increase its production volumes.

Established in 1852, Cosucra produces natural chicory and pea ingredients.By processing agricultural raw materials produced close to its industrial plants, the Wallonian will also contribute to the development and structure of local and sustainable agricultural sectors.

Hunger for alt-protein
This latest investment responds to strong growth in the natural ingredients market, reflecting consumers’ expectations for a more plant-based, balanced and transparent diet.

Aligning with Innova Market Insights’ “Plant Forward” trend, there has been a 37 percent average annual growth in global F&B launches tracked with a protein claim and pea protein specifically (CAGR 2015-2019).

Moreover, applications with pea proteins are soaring, with global F&B launches featuring pea protein jumping from 15 percent in 2015 to 25 percent in 2019. Similarly, F&B launches featuring chicory root fiber have risen from 4 to 9 percent between 2016 and 2020.

Pea protein is frequently found in sports snacks and clinical nutrition, while chicory fiber has uses in supporting gut health, healthy aging and infant nutrition.

EIB investment involvement
The latest investment is on top of previous investments of €20 million (US$23.6 million) of equity and €15 million (US$17.8 million) from banking institutions over the past two years. Moreover, the new investment will create 20 new jobs at Cosucra’s Warcoing site within three years.

In 2020, SRIW began efforts to obtain support from the EIB to cope with an upsurge in its operations in terms of both amounts and quantity.

From left to right: Sofiprotéol COO Xavier Dorchies, Cosucra CEO Jacques Crahay and SRIW vice-president Sébastien Durieux.The following year, SRIW was endorsed as an EIB partner and intermediary and was granted an initial loan envelope of €100 million (US$118.3 million), with the possibility of doubling this amount, to be used as part of its remit to finance business projects in Wallonia, Belgium.

The loan granted to Cosucra, supported by SRIW for more than 15 years, is the first operation to be carried out using this EIB credit line.

Overall, the EIB allocated around €1.5 billion (US$1.7 billion) in funding to Belgium in 2020, covering projects in the health, education, energy and water sectors. The EIB provided support representing 0.30 percent of Belgian gross domestic product.

“Enormous” pressure on agriculture
The second financing component comes from Sofiprotéol, a finance company for the French plant protein and oil sector. Doing so reaffirms Sofiprotéol’s support in creating a competitive agri-food sector.

The company is particularly investing in pea cultivation to benefit French farmers and environmentally friendly agricultural production systems.

Innova Market Insights highlights growth for global pea protein.“Agriculture is faced with enormous consumer pressure and regulatory decisions around plant protection products, without proper remuneration – although prices have been rising in recent months,” explains Lenfant.

“In this perspective, cooperation with the French protein crop chains can lead to progress.”

Ramping up production
Since 2013, Cosucra has increased its production capacity by more than 300 percent to meet market demands in plant proteins.

In May, Gillco agreed to distribute Cosucra’s Fibrulose-branded chicory root fiber specialty ingredients, Nastar native pea starch, Swelite pea cell-wall fiber and Pisane organic pea protein, to its North American end-customers.

In 2018, Cosucra invested €35 million (US$41.4 million) in the extension of its pea plant in Belgium. A second pea processing plant in Denmark followed the next year.

By Anni Schleicher

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