SARIA UK opened its doors

SARIA was delighted to welcome Norbert Rethmann, Honorary Supervisory Board Member of RETHMANN Group, to the UK. His visit provided an excellent opportunity to showcase the impressive progress and achievements across the different operations in UK.
Background

Given the changes currently affecting British business in general, a transformation process has been set in motion at SARIA UK to respond to these market changes. Under the leadership of CEO Thomas Versterre, this transformational process is primarily designed to make the most of commercial opportunities. For example, at the end of March 2025, a new food waste law came into force in the UK, requiring companies and public institutions to collect food waste separately. ReFood UK, as an expert in the collection and recycling of food leftovers, was well prepared for this and proactively promoted the legally compliant collection and processing of food surplus, which is converted into renewable energy in the company’s own biogas plants.

Tour stops

Norbert Rethmann’s tour began in Widnes, 22.5 km from Liverpool, where he visited the large SecAnim site specializing in the processing of potential animal risk material (cat. 1 and 2), as well as the ReFood site, which went into operation in 2014 and supplies gas directly to the national grid with its AD plant.

The tour continued with a visit to the T.Quality depot in Leeds, where Mr. Rethmann gained an insight into one of the leading suppliers to fast food restaurants in the UK. From frozen goods and pre-packaged foods to wrapping materials and cleaning products, T.Quality offers everything the UK catering industry needs. Mr. Rethmann had the opportunity to take a look at the new vehicles in the T.Quality fleet, which the company recently invested in. This includes 22 new 15-ton and four 18-ton vehicles equipped with customized split-load bodies, which T.Quality developed as a special design in collaboration with the manufacturer.

Mr. Rethmann then visited Doncaster, home to SARIA UK headquarters as well as ReFood, SARVAL, and Nortech Foods – a distinguished UK leader in the production of animal and vegetable fats and oils. Nottingham and Hartshill were the next stops on the tour before the trip ended with a final stop in Dagenham.

Throughout his visit, Mr. Rethmann was impressed by the positive atmosphere at all locations and praised the immaculate condition of the facilities, which reflects the exceptional commitment of the local teams to maintaining the highest standards.

UK business at a glance

Employing around 1,000 people at 23 sites, SARIA UK manufactures high-quality products for the food, feed, agriculture, aquaculture, and oleochemical markets, produces renewable energy, and provides services for agriculture and the food industry.