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food Marketing & Technology 3/2021

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Ingredients year, the

Ingredients year, the company co-operates with 120–180 farmers and positions itself as a local service provider for them. For example, 100% of the seeds are supplied by BENEO and the company machines around 60% of the total cultivated area before and after sowing on behalf of the farmers. This also applies to mechanical weed control. In fact, harvesting and transport are done entirely and exclusively by the organisation. One of the major challenges in Chile is the soil and its composition. On the one hand, it can be very stony, which requires a good separation processing — both in the field and the factory — and, on the other hand, heavy rainfall regularly puts the drainage capacity of the soils to the test. For the harvesting machines to be able to access the fields, even during extreme rainfall, the harvesting sequence needs to be well planned and organized. All the fields are therefore classified by BENEO according to their drainage capacity. For example, particularly sandy soils are only harvested at the end of the campaign. And, when awarding contracts for the coming year to the farmers, care is taken to ensure that the necessary area is available on soil that drains well. As a rule, BENEO relies on a four-year rotation cycle using crops such as corn, quinoa, chia and buckwheat to maintain soil health in the long-term. Existing fallow land is also used as flowering areas to promote biodiversity. Tablets in the field Owing to the generally good climatic conditions, however, Chile also suffers from prolific weed growth. To win the race between cultivated crops and wildflowers, sowing, gap closure and weed control must be timed accurately. Whether by satellite, airplane or drone, BENEO makes great efforts in Chile to obtain the most precise information possible about the condition of its fields. With crop care and protection top of mind, the primary aim is to be able to work as accurately as possible. With the aid of soil sensors, water use and nutrient requirements of the plants are recorded and can be analysed over time. Using an app, farmers can also be directed to those parts of a field where growth is below 10 food Marketing & Technology • June 2021

Ingredients average. In the future, it should also be possible to digitally identify weeds, so that even more targeted control measures can be taken. Further investment into sustainability At its plant in Pemuco, BENEO not only produces inulin and oligofructose, it also processes certain solid and liquid co-products that are used as mineral fertilizers or as feed products. The energy required for all these processes comes from a biomass boiler, which was commissioned in 2015. Because there is a lot of wood and pulp industry in the region, the use of biomass is particularly fitting; BENEO actually uses the residual wood from local sawmills as a source of energy for its own combined heatpower plant. “We have switched the site’s energy supply to non-fossil fuels as far as possible. Around 80% of our total annual energy need comes from renewable sources and we plan to expand this in the future to further reduce our carbon footprint,” comments Christoph Boettger, Member of the Executive Board of BENEO. “In order to ensure continously a reliable supply chain in future we are investing more than € 50 million in the expansion of our Chilean site. This will enable us to increase our production capacity by 20% worldwide by 2022, he went on to say.” Projekt2_Layout 1 05.03.2021 13:23 Seite 1 COLOUR For extra boost! The state-of-the-art plant in Pemuco is an equally important location for BENEO. In recent years, the company has established itself as a good employer and social partner in the region. For example, BENEO has been holding a competition for business start-ups for some time. Every year, this competition supports several micro-enterprises with knowledge and financial contributions. BENEO also takes care of the next generation of farmers. A dual training program has been initiated with local schools, and the first class has recently graduated. As such, BENEO is making an important contribution to leading the agricultural sector in Chile into a successful future with bright minds. fmt food Marketing & Technology Key No. 99993

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