Business Lines
LDC operates ten business lines around the world, of which one is active in Belgium: Juice
Global Highlights
We are one of the largest orange and lemon growers and juice suppliers in the world, with sustainability as the cornerstone of our business model
About Juice
Our juice business offers orange, lime, and lemon juices, and associated by-products.
When citrus fruit is processed, nothing is wasted. Juice is extracted, oils are recovered and all remaining pulp is transformed into citrus-pulp pellets.
The energy- and fiber-rich pellets are used as an animal feed ingredient, and the oil essences and aromas are primarily used by the flavor and fragrance industries, to which we are a major supplier.
We also produce dry peel from our ripe oranges, lemon and lime. This is used for pectin extraction. Pectin is sold on to the food industry as a gelling agent, thickening agent and stabilizer in food.
Brazil and the US are the main producers of orange juice. The state of Florida supplies about 75% of North American consumption and Brazil supplies the rest, though its primary market is the EU. The rest of the world also relies on Brazilian production, and consumption growth is greatest in emerging markets.
Our Juice Value Chain
Each of our business lines is integrating further across the five steps of our value chain, as we respond to the need for a traceable and responsible supply line from farmer to consumer
01Originate & Produce
01Originate & Produce
02Process & Refine
02Process & Refine
03Store & Transport
03Store & Transport
04Research & Merchandize
04Research & Merchandize
05Customize & Distribute
05Customize & Distribute
01Originate & Produce
01Originate & Produce
02Process & Refine
02Process & Refine
03Store & Transport
03Store & Transport
04Research & Merchandize
04Research & Merchandize
05Customize & Distribute
05Customize & Distribute
Our Strengths in Juice
LDC’s Juice Platform is involved in approximately 15% of all orange flows around the world.
We are involved in the entire value chain of citrus processing, from farming to distribution of packaged juices. In addition to merchandizing and risk management expertise, our success in the global fruit juice business is supported by extensive physical assets, sustainable operations and traceable supply chains.
Our assets include nurseries to grow seedling fruit trees, over 25,000 hectares of citrus groves (with more than 14 million trees) across 38 farms, 4 state-of-the-art processing facilities in Brazil and China, and 2 distribution terminals in Brazil and Belgium.
Our citrus terminals in the Port of Santos, Brazil, and in Ghent, Belgium, are capable of handling both Frozen Concentrate Orange Juice (FCOJ) and Not From Concentrate Orange Juice (NFCOJ) in bulk and drums.
Diversifying Downstream
Pursuing our strategy to move further downstream and diversify revenue through value-added products, in 2019 LDC entered into a joint venture with Luckin Coffee to supply, pack and distribute high-quality not from concentrate (NFC) juices through our partner’s fast-growing retail chain in China, with over 4,500 outlets across the country at the end of 2019.
The business will focus initially on NFC orange and lemon juices, for which we already master the value chain from farms to customers, with the option to build our own bottling plant in the future.
Committed to Sustainability
As a fundamental element of our juice production strategy, we have built sustainable solutions into our operations across the juice value chain