We are happy to announce our very recent partnership with Laiterie de Coaticook and Gestion P.AS for an alcoholic fermentation project based on sugar beet!
Food alcohol, also known as ethanol, is a product widely used in the manufacture of spirits such as gin or vodka. This market is booming in Canada and particularly in Quebec with more than $890 million in sales made by the SAQ in 2020. As a result, many distilleries in the province are considerably increasing their production of alcoholic beverages, resulting in strong demand for alcoholic beverages. ethanol. In this context, GESTION P.A.S, a natural and local sugar producer, wishes to move towards the production of food ethanol. The project partner company initially produced commercial sugar from sugar beet. However, the complexity of the sugar refining process and changing markets have led the company to diversify their production. GESTION P.A.S wishes to embark on the production of ethanol through alcoholic fermentation. This biological process, which is less complex and expensive than refining sugar, would then transform the sugars in beets into alcohol using yeasts. This alcohol production could then meet the strong demand from the spirits production market in Quebec and Canada.
In this context, Prof. Lavoie’s team, which has strong expertise in the production of bioethanol, will participate in research work in collaboration with GESTION P.A.S. The objective of this research project is to add value to certain agri-food residues from Laiterie de Coaticook and Gestion P.A.S for the production of food-grade alcohol.
Partner companies will be able to draw on BTL’s expertise in the field of alcoholic fermentation from various forest and agricultural biomasses.
The BTL is proud to add the Laiterie de Coaticook and Gestion P.A.S. We are happy to partner with pioneering companies in the region who are thirsty for innovation!
From left to right: Jean Provencher (General Director of the Laiterie de Coaticook and of Gestion PAS), Philippe Robert (Technician of the Laiterie de Coaticook and of Gestion PAS), Jean-Baptiste Beigbeder and Javier Ricardo Gomez Cardozo (postdoctoral researchers at the BTL).