From sugar beet to sugar in a portion pack

The annual beet campaign has come to an end! From September up to January, sugar beets were brought from the fields to the factory. But how is sugar actually made from sugar beets? And how does this ultimately finish up in a portion pack at Van Oordt? Of course we are happy to explain this process to you.

Harvesting, testing, weighing & washing

Sugar beets are harvested in the fields. The leaves are stored as animal feed and the roots are taken to sugar factories. In the sugar factories a sample is taken to determine the sugar content of the beets. At the same time, the weight of the soil adhering to the beets, the tare, is weighed. To remove the tare, the beets are washed thoroughly under very high pressure. The sugar beets are then cut into thin strips. Only then does the actual sugar extraction begin!

The sugar extraction

The cut strips of sugar beet are heated to 70 degrees in the scalding trough and then transported to the diffusion tower. Here the cuttings are slowly stirred and the sugar from the thin strips dissolves in water, the raw juice. The raw juice is filtered and boiled, resulting in a thicker juice. The sugar percentage has increased from 17% to 70% as a result of this process. The so-called thick juice is further thickened in the cooking station. By evaporating water and adding thick juice, sugar crystals grow to an ideal size. The dark-colored syrupy mixture that remains goes to the centrifuge. Here the syrup is discarded, after which white granulated sugar remains. After the centrifuge, the still warm granulated sugar falls onto conveyor belts where it is dried and cooled.

Transport to specialty factories and sugar buyers

After the production of granulated sugar has been completed, the sugar is stored in large sugar silos. Trucks are filled, that take the sugar to specialty factories or sugar buyers, such as Van Oordt The Portion Company!

Process sugar in handy portion packs

At Van Oordt, about 30,000 kilos of sugar are filled into our sugar silo, in which approximately a total of 50,000 to 60,000 kilos of sugar can be stored. From this silo, the sugar ends up in the filling pipes of our packaging machines via supply systems. After this, the sugar is filled into sticks or sachets. In the case of sugar cubes, the sugar ends up in a mortar where it is mixed. This mixture is pressed into a mold, in the form of a sugar cube. After the sugar has been packaged in portions, the portion packs are packed in different units. Then the products are ready for transport to various customers within food service!