Svenska

Danisco Sugar Örtofta
Örtofta
SE-241 93
Eslov

Phone: +46 46 540 63 00
E-mail:ortofta.sugar@danisco.com

Contact

Bengt Högberg, Factory Manager
Arne Svensson, Deputy Factory Manager
Per-Olof Hansson, HR Administrator

The site

Danisco Sugar Örtofta is one of the largest and most efficient sugar-producing facilities in Europe. The sugar beets are supplied by approx. 2,500 beet growers and conveyed to the site by lorry.

Around 600 truckloads of beets are delivered to Örtofta a day, equal to more than two million tonnes of sugar beet being turned into sugar during a campaign. From the beet fibres left once the sugar has been extracted, we produce feed products. At our production site in Köpingebro we produce the dietary fibre Fibrex®.

Danisco's entire annual sugar production is achieved during a four-month period, called the campaign, extending over some 120 days from mid-September to mid-January when the facility operates around the clock, seven days a week. The facility has a daily processing capacity of 18,000 tonnes of beet.  

The site's annual production (approximately):

• 300,000 tonnes of sugar (2007/08)
  Feed products:
• 52,000 tonnes of molasses (2007/08) 
• 44,000 tonnes of molassed sugar beet pellets (2007/08) 
• 12,000 tonnes of molassed sugar beet shreds (2007/08) 
• 200,000 tonnes of pressed beet pulp (2007/08) 

Approx. half of the granulated sugar is sold to the retail market under the Dansukker ® brand. The other half is sold to the food industry.

The site also houses Danisco Sugar’s centralised plant for washing and analysing Swedish beet samples, Agri Provtvätt (beet laboratory).

The site employs around 180 people but the workforce is increased by a contingent labour force of 100 people during the beet campaign. The majority of our employees work in the production e.g. as machine operators, process operators, service engineers (within electrical maintenance or automation) and at the laboratory. Approx. 10 employees work in the administration. Further reading about the Sugar division.

Örtofta contributes to energy supplies
As from the 2006 campaign, Örtofta has been supplying surplus heat to the local district heating plants. These supplies result in important environmental gains, including a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of up to 8,500 tonnes a year. The volume of surplus heat supplied equals that used for heating about 3,000 single-family houses a year.

Between the campaigns
Once the campaign is over, the production equipment is overhauled. The maintenance and new installations required after the campaign keep the permanent staff not engaged in the packing and handling of sugar and feed products busy for the rest of the year. This is also the time of the year when staff receive further training. 

History

Danisco Sugar Örtofta was founded in 1890. The facility manufactured raw sugar until 1952 when the production was reorganised into making granulated sugar. In the early 1960s, production was expanded to 5,000 tonnes of beet a day.

Local community & environment

Örtofta is a small village located in the municipality of Eslöv 40 km north of Malmoe in Scania, southern Sweden. The municipality of Eslöv has approx. 30,000 inhabitants. Danisco is one of the biggest employers in Eslöv and good relations with the local community are essential to us.

We are in continuous dialogue with local stakeholders with regard to issues of common concern. This includes communicating with the local politicians and committees on environmental and technical matters. It also involves interaction with the local residents, for example by inviting the nearby villages to visit and experience the site from the inside which we do every year. Being a major sugar-producing facility there is widespread interest in visiting us and studying our production process. 

During the campaign we have approx. 2,000 visitors coming from a range of areas e.g. schools, universities, grower organisations and politicians. If you are interested in visiting Örtofta please send a request via e-mail or give us a call. Our visiting time is normally from mid-October to end-November.

Eslöv offers

Child care and education
The town offers child-care facilities. Opening hours in day nurseries and kindergartens vary. Standard opening hours are from 06.30 am to 6.30 pm. Eslöv has primary/secondary schools and high schools.

Leisure and culture
The town provides sports facilities for sports associations and residents of the town. The sports fan will for instance find Ellinge golf course at a convenient distance and Ringsjön, one of the country's most beautiful lakes, boasts fine angling opportunities. There are also several museums, seven castles and a number of ancient monuments in the region. The Tourist Office provides information on the sights of Eslöv as well as maps and fishing permits.

Location

Örtofta is located in Scania in the southern part of Sweden, 1½ hours away from Danisco Sugar's headquarters in Copenhagen. Sturup Airport is only 40 minutes away from Eslöv and Kastrup Airport, offering worldwide connections, is only 45 minutes away.

Find your way

Links

Complete guide of nurseries and kindergartens (in Swedish only)
Eslöv's public communication facilities
Eslöv municipality