Retiers celebrates its 100 years!
After 2 difficult years, it was time to profit from of the beautiful sunny days of June 2022 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Retiers site. The 17th and 18th of June will have been under the sign of Sharing and Conviviality around the milk professions and the expertise of Retiers.
2 days of celebration during which each employee had the opportunity to share their passion for milk by making us relive the highlights of the history of the Retiers factory. On the program of the festivities, visits of the production lines and interactive stands for the greatest pleasure of the employees and their families.
RETIERS: 100 YEARS OF EXPERTISE, PASSION AND COMMITMENT
In 1920 Monsieur Bridel bought a small farm in the place called Les Fromy. Since then, the site has been continuing to develop. It now includes 3 activities of which Lactalis Ingredients; an activity focused on milk and whey valuation through the production of milk powder, concentrated whey protein powder and lactose.
The production of dairy ingredients started in Retiers with the building of first milk drying tower in 1950. Today, with more than 70 years of expertise in concentration, filtration, evaporation and drying, Retiers factory produces and markets various dairy ingredients for high value-added markets such as the chocolate industry or the clinical, sports, infant and medical nutrition markets. Also export-oriented, the Retiers site has constantly been able to meet the requirements of the most demanding and specific markets by offering high-quality ingredients.
Major investments have been made over the past 10 years with the complete renovation of the drying tower dedicated to skimmed milk powder and the construction of a brand new Lactoserie for high purity lactose and concentrated whey proteins powder production.
Each new investment also takes into account a strong environmental focus. Concerned about the industrial impact, the whole Retiers teams work daily to seek solutions aimed at minimizing consumption of energy and resources such as water, limiting discharges into the environment or even optimizing processes. The sustainability of our resources and our activity is now an integral part of the Lactalis group’s reflections for each new investment.
A PIONEEERING SITE AT THE CUTTING EDGE OF THE LATEST TECHNOLOGIES
The Retiers site includes the Research & Development unit of the Lactalis group. Equipped with industrial pilots and a team of dedicated experts, it is on the site itself that new technologies such as membrane processes are born. Pioneer in the filtration of milk and whey, the Lactalis group has taken advantage of all the richness of the milk to constantly innovate. Thus, it was in the 2000s that Prolacta®, a concentrate of native proteins derived from milk, was created. Intended for the infant, sports and clinical nutrition markets, Prolacta® results from of a cold filtration process that preserves all the nutritional quality of the proteins by limiting their denaturation.
The Retiers site has also recently developed a new range of high purity lactose which level is greater than 99.6%. This quality allows access to very specific markets such as the infant nutrition that requires almost zero vitamin B2 levels or the production of lactose derivatives markets (HMO, Lactulose, GOS) whose manufacturing yields can vary with the purity of the lactose used.
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RETIERS: A SITE WITH STRONG LOCAL ROOTS
Located in the heart of the French dairy production region, the Retiers site collects and processes more than 350 million liters per year from 700 dairy producers. It now employs nearly 800 people, including 360 for the ingredients business. The plants thus contributes to preserving local employment while maintaining strong activity around the rurality of Retiers.
Celebrating the 100th anniversary of such an important site was a real pride for the whole Lactalis teams.
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