Roquette Freres
Encyclopedia
Roquette is a French based family owned company which produces more than 650 by-products from the starch
extracted from corn
, wheat
, potatoes and peas
.
Founded and headquartered in Lestrem
, France
in 1933 by the brothers Dominique and Germain Roquette, Roquette has grow to become the number two ranked producer of starch in Europe
and the number four ranked producer of starch worldwide.
Roquette employs more than 6,000 people globally and achieved a turnover of over 2.5 billion euros in 2008.
in 1933 grain brokers Dominique and Germain Roquette along with the aid of ICAM engineer Adam Grunewald created a potato starch
plant named Roquette in Lestrem. From this point on Roquette has grown to 30 establishments. Below is a list of the firm's major development stages since its beginning.
Since the eighties, Roquette has been strengthening its international presence with various factories or offices in the United States, China, Korea, Japan
, India
, Russia
and Mexico
. The United States is home to 2 production sites found in Keokuk, Iowa and Gurnee, Illinois. Roquette also has 2 Chinese production plants found in Nanning
, Guangxi
and Lianyungang, Jiangsu. A third Asian production plant is located in Ulsan, Korea.
es, hydrolyzed and isomerised products, hydrogenated products, and fermentation
process derivatives and fine chemicals
. Roquette is world leader in polyols (sugar alcohols).
Starch
Starch or amylum is a carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by all green plants as an energy store...
extracted from corn
Corn
Corn is the name used in the United States, Canada, and Australia for the grain maize.In much of the English-speaking world, the term "corn" is a generic term for cereal crops, such as* Barley* Oats* Wheat* Rye- Places :...
, wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
, potatoes and peas
PEAS
P.E.A.S. is an acronym in artificial intelligence that stands for Performance, Environment, Actuators, Sensors.-Performance:Performance is a function that measures the quality of the actions the agent did....
.
Founded and headquartered in Lestrem
Lestrem
Lestrem is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:A small farming and light industrial town, situated some north of Béthune and west of Lille, on the D122, D178 and D975 roads, by the banks of the Lawe River.-History:The town was all but...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1933 by the brothers Dominique and Germain Roquette, Roquette has grow to become the number two ranked producer of starch in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the number four ranked producer of starch worldwide.
Roquette employs more than 6,000 people globally and achieved a turnover of over 2.5 billion euros in 2008.
History
At the beginning of the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
in 1933 grain brokers Dominique and Germain Roquette along with the aid of ICAM engineer Adam Grunewald created a potato starch
Potato starch
Potato starch is starch extracted from potatoes. The cells of the root tubers of the potato plant contain starch grains . To extract the starch, the potatoes are crushed; the starch grains are released from the destroyed cells...
plant named Roquette in Lestrem. From this point on Roquette has grown to 30 establishments. Below is a list of the firm's major development stages since its beginning.
- 1933 - Dominique and Germain Roquette start the first Roquette potato starch plant in Lestrem, France
- 1946 - Construction of the corn starch plant in Lestrem, France
- 1954 - Lestrem facility begins industrial production of sorbitolSorbitolSorbitol, also known as glucitol, Sorbogem® and Sorbo®, is a sugar alcohol that the human body metabolizes slowly. It can be obtained by reduction of glucose, changing the aldehyde group to a hydroxyl group. Sorbitol is found in apples, pears, peaches, and prunes...
- 1956 - Construction of the potato starch plant in VecquemontVecquemontVecquemont is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Geography:Vecquemont is situated east of Amiens, on the D11a road and by the banks of the Somme River.-Population:-External links:*...
, France - 1961 - Construction of the corn starch plant in Cassano SpinolaCassano SpinolaCassano Spinola is a comune in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 100 km southeast of Turin and about 25 km southeast of Alessandria...
, ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and... - 1977 - Construction of the corn starch plant in BeinheimBeinheimBeinheim is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
, France - 1982 - Construction of the sorbitol production unit in Gurnee, IllinoisIllinoisIllinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... - 1986 - Construction of the wheat starch plant at Lestrem, France facility
- 1991 - Take-over of a corn starch plant in KeokukKeokukKeokuk may refer to:*Keokuk Places or warships named after Chief Keokuk:*Keokuk, Iowa, USA*Keokuk County, Iowa, USA*Keokuk Airport, USA*Keokuk-Hamilton Bridge, USA*Keokuk Rail Bridge, USA*USS Keokuk, several US Navy ships, including:...
, IowaIowaIowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, United States - 1993 - Lestrem facility launches the start of maltitolMaltitolMaltitol is a sugar alcohol used as a sugar substitute. It has 75-90% of the sweetness of sucrose and nearly identical properties, except for browning. It is used to replace table sugar because it has fewer calories, does not promote tooth decay, and has a somewhat lesser effect on blood glucose...
production - 1997 - Take-over of the corn starch plant in CalafatCalafatCalafat is a city in Dolj County, Romania, on the river Danube, opposite the Bulgarian city of Vidin, to which it is linked by ferryboat. The construction of the Calafat-Vidin Bridge is planned between the two cities....
, RomaniaRomaniaRomania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea... - 1998 - Construction of the wheat starch plant in Beinheim, France
- 2000 - Take-over of the wheat starch plant in CorbyCorbyCorby Town is a town and borough located in the county of Northamptonshire. Corby Town is 23 miles north-east of the county town, Northampton. The borough had a population of 53,174 at the 2001 Census; the town on its own accounted for 49,222 of this figure...
, EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental... - 2001 - Take-over of two sorbitol production units in LianyungangLianyungangLianyungang is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Jiangsu province, People's Republic of China. It borders Yancheng to its southeast, Huai'an and Suqian to its south, Xuzhou to its southwest, and the province of Shandong to its north...
, JiangsuJiangsu' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...
, ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and UlsanUlsanUlsan , officially the Ulsan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's seventh largest metropolis with a population of over 1.1 million. It is located in the south-east of the country, neighboring Busan to the south and facing Gyeongju to the north and the Sea of Japan to the east.Ulsan is the...
, KoreaKoreaKorea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the... - 2008 - Take-over of the B.P.S. (Bioprodukte Steinberg), production of microalgae in KlotzeKlötzeKlötze is a town in the Altmarkkreis Salzwedel , in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated approx. 20 km northwest of Gardelegen, and 35 km northeast of Wolfsburg....
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Locations
Worldwide Roquette has 18 production sites and 12 offices located on three continents, Europe, Asia, and North America. Lestrem is the lagest Roquette facility in Europe and is home to the companies main research and development center which employs more than 250 researchers. Along with the Lestrem facility Europe is home to 4 Roquette offices and 10 other production facilities (6 of which are found in France).Since the eighties, Roquette has been strengthening its international presence with various factories or offices in the United States, China, Korea, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. The United States is home to 2 production sites found in Keokuk, Iowa and Gurnee, Illinois. Roquette also has 2 Chinese production plants found in Nanning
Nanning
Nanning is the capital of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China. It is known as the "Green City" because of its abundance of lush tropical foliage.-History:...
, Guangxi
Guangxi
Guangxi, formerly romanized Kwangsi, is a province of southern China along its border with Vietnam. In 1958, it became the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, a region with special privileges created specifically for the Zhuang people.Guangxi's location, in...
and Lianyungang, Jiangsu. A third Asian production plant is located in Ulsan, Korea.
Products
Roquette's products fall into five major product categories; native starches and proteins, physically and chemically modified starchModified starch
Modified starch, also called starch derivatives, are prepared by physically, enzymatically, or chemically treating native starch, thereby changing the properties of the starch. Modified starches are used in practically all starch applications, such as in food products as a thickening agent,...
es, hydrolyzed and isomerised products, hydrogenated products, and fermentation
Fermentation
Fermentation may refer to:* Fermentation , the use of fermentation in food preparation* Fermentation , a metabolic process whereby electrons released from nutrients are ultimately transferred to molecules obtained from the breakdown of those same nutrients* Fermentation , the process of...
process derivatives and fine chemicals
Fine chemicals
Fine chemicals are pure, single chemical substances that are commercially produced with chemical reactions for highly specialized applications. Fine chemicals produced can be categorized into active pharmaceutical ingredients and their intermediates, biocides, and specialty chemicals for technical...
. Roquette is world leader in polyols (sugar alcohols).