Most of the malting barley produced within Epis-Centre is under contract. Farmers are trained and provided with in house multiplied seeds and appropriate farm extension services in order to produce the best quality barley with the highest crop return in full respect of the environmental and food safety standards. All field practices are recorded. State of the art technologies such as satellite monitoring (Farmstar) and precision farming are continually developed to improve further malting barley sustainability. These latest technologies are used to optimise seeding rate, fertilisers and crop protection. Computer systems at all levels provide full traceability from the field to the malt.

This know-how is also used by PPK in Croatia and Granit Agriculture in Hungary for a malting barley development programme to supply Slavonia Slad in Nova Gradiska, Croatia and Dunaùjvàros, Hungary.

Barley breeders are involved in varieties development in the different countries were Boortmalt is active. All other suppliers from the key European malting barley areas which supply the plants, equally conform to these high standards and offer the best quality in accordance with customer requirements.

Guaranteeing quality
Boortmalt’s central laboratory is based in Antwerp, Belgium, where every aspect of barley and malt is analysed. This doesn’t prevent each plant from having its own laboratory. Each one ensures that all the barley received is fully inspected and analyses the standard aspects of malt. In Antwerp, Boortmalt carries out micro-malting which refines the malting process for large batches and tests the aptitudes of new varieties of brewing barley.

Mira Spehar
Chief of Logistic and Quality Control
"Each new crop received in Boortmalt undergoes a micro-malting process to see what result we can expect. We also conduct health analyses of barley, micotoxin analyses, NDMA analyses, pesticide analyses… in a nutshell, analyses on everything!"

Peter Langie
Quality Manager
"Boortmalt wants to provide its customers with appropriate malt solutions. To achieve this goal, not only do we need upstream barley control and state of the art production facilities, but Boortmalt also needs a uniform and appropriate quality assurance system from which ISO and HACCP are the basis in all our facilities. This way we can assure the right quality, 100% integrity and 100% traceability".

Controlling supplies
Philippe Lehrmann,
Chief Commercial Officer.
"In terms of barley supply, we have direct access to the field on the one hand and to key barley markets in Europe on the other".


Dunaùjvàros – Nova Gradiska supplies
Jean-François Berger
Executive Manager of agricoles activities Central Europe
"In Croatia, Hungary and central Europe in general, we organise the production of malting barley to supply our two malting plants, in Dunaùjvàros and Nova Gradiska.All of the farmers with whom we work are under contract to grow barley for us, and they are followed up all year round.We have two teams in Hungary and one team in Croatia. Three people follow up the farmers on the ground in Croatia and three in Hungary.We mainly work with the biggest technical farmers in each country.We supply the farmers with the certified seeds that we produce in our own seed factories.
Accordingly, in addition to the Nova Gradiska malting plant, the PPK company, which is also an Epis-Centre subsidiary, multiplies and produces these seeds.
As far as the variety range is concerned, PPK works with the varieties it has exclusively, those which have been granted by German, French and Dutch breeders. Relations with selectors such as Baywa, Florimond Desprez, Serasem and Sécobra, mean that the most appropriate varieties can be developed quickly.
As well as contracted barley production, Boortmalt also works with its trading subsidiary Granit Agriculture in Budapest".


Gabor Kindl
Regional Manager Granit Hungary
"Our main mission is to source on the Hungarian and agricultural market in order to be able to supply high quality material for the Boortmalt malting site in Dunaùjvàros. But we also have other missions: to supply good quality material to Hungarian farmers and then to collect their grains.We are therefore naturally interested in the European grain trade, our target region being central Europe".