A new 100% French sector in the Loiret: Intact opens a factory to produce vegetable proteins and alcohol

Nearing completion in the industrial and logistics zone of Baule (Loiret), near the A10 exit at Meung-sur-Loire, the new Intact factory impresses. Vast, highly automated with its network of pipes and silos, it is currently in the testing phase with a view to rapid launch, probably mid-April.

His vocation? Transforming grain legumes – peas, fava beans, etc. – to obtain two products, vegetable proteins and neutral alcohol, using an innovative, low-carbon process. It is based on mechanical extraction, without additives, which greatly limits water consumption and preserves the quality of the products.

The factory, which has almost completed its recruitment with around 70 employees, uses 100% of the seed, reduced to flour, then separated into three components, starch, to produce alcohol, proteins and fibers. These will power the biomass boiler room which provides 70% of the site’s energy supply, supplemented by electricity.

Protein production is intended for the food industry – such as the company Happyvore, in Loiret, which offers plant-based meat – to replace soya, which is mostly imported.

Neutral alcohol has already started to be produced in small quantities on an experimental basis, and two big names have announced that they have adopted it, Guerlain, for its perfume L’homme Ideal, and Remy Cointreau, for its spirits.

“We are the only ones who do it”

The other challenge for Intact is to build “a new production sector, French from A to Z”, from seed to ingredients, explains Alexis Duval, co-founder of the company. “We are the only ones who do it,” he insists.

This factory, which will process 30,000 tonnes of legumes per year, offers new outlets to farmers, with a double benefit since these crops also make it possible to enrich the soil without having to resort to chemical fertilizers. In the region, Intact works hand in hand with the Axéréal cooperative, and 550 operators are mobilized around this new approach.