Integrating the malt value chain
A complete approach to malting barley procurement must take into account these six key areas — which implies good knowledge and prior in-depth analysis of local contexts — and deploy pragmatic, multi-faceted solutions keyed to situations and customer needs in each region.
In the final analysis, for Malteurop there is no single procurement chain, but rather different models of origination and supply of malting barley — models which are modular and scalable to accompany markets and brewers.
At Malteurop these models encourage, wherever possible, the use of local resources and direct relations with growers, in a perspective of sustainability.
In regions that are insufficient producers of suitable barley, Malteurop organizes and secures the necessary procurement flows, adapting to local contexts and the specific needs of brewers.
Certain countries are structurally in deficit since they consume beer yet produce little or no barley.
Barley is especially well suited to malting operations and meets brewers’ needs and expectations. During the different stages of fabrication of malt and beer, the grain is capable of synthesizing and rapidly activating an enzymatic complex.
Barley, throughout history the most widespread cereal grain, seems to have first been grown in Turkestan, Ethiopia, Tibet, Nepal, and China. Archeological excavations 100 km from Cairo, in Egypt, have shown that barley was grown as early as 5,000 years ago.
Malting consists in causing the grain to germinate and set in motion the transformation undergone naturally by the plant during its growth, and then halting that transformation more or less rapidly depending on the characteristics desired.
In order to offer its customers new gains in added value, Malteurop now integrates intangible competencies such as risk management. Malteurop handles management of industrial risks, risks of interruption of supplies of raw materials, and financial risks related to the volatility of malting barley prices.
Malteurop conducts a research and development policy aimed at introducing innovations into the barley-malt-beer value chain. It concerns primarily control over raw materials – barley and malt – and improving industrial processes at malting plants.
