HISTORY
Debra-Group is a family business based in West Flanders that combines the experience and expertise of three generations. Our company will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2020.
1st generation
- 1920: Alfred De Brauwer buys live pigs in the Tielt region for trading on the cattle market in Brussels.
2nd generation
- 1957: Julien De Brauwer buys the ‘Slaughterhouse Tielt’ to slaughter his own pigs and cattle, and later also those of third parties. He starts with a rate of 500 pigs a week at 40 carcasses/h.
- 1960: Scalding tank and dehairing machine investment project.
3rd generation
- 1972: Geert De Brauwer, son of …, takes over the management.
- 1974-1976: Investment project – construction of a new slaughter line for 120 carcasses/h
- 1978: End of the cattle activities
- 1979: Geert De Brauwer establishes Debra-Meat. Pigs are cut in the old cattle cooling area at a rate of 4 pigs a day.
- 1980: Construction of a waste processing unit and physicochemical water treatment system.
- 1990-1991: Modernisation of the slaughter infrastructure to 400 carcasses/h.
- 1995: Purchase of the adjacent freezer house and foundation of Debra-Freeze.
- 1996: Construction of a biological water treatment system.
- 2002: Purchase of company buildings adjacent to the freezer house.
- 2003: Construction of a new cutting room.
Expansion of the cooling rooms and modification of the slaughter line to 625 carcasses/h in order to increase the capacity to over 1 million pigs. - 2007: Expansion of the cooling rooms.
- 2010: Expansion of the cooling rooms in order to increase the capacity to over 1.5 million pigs.
- 2010: Arrival of the new generation, Thomas De Roover De Brauwer.
- 2013: Establishment of “Butchery to order”
- 2014: Expansion of the cooling rooms in order to increase the capacity to over 2 million pigs.
- 2014: Expansion of the stys in order to provide the pigs with more spacious accommodation.