The history

10 years already!

STERIPURE celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2022.

A lot of steps and a lot of ground covered.

At the beginning, an idea was in the mind of its founder Olivier Bourgois. He understood that the food industry would have to face a growing need for microbiological safety.

In 1990, Olivier Bourgois and his brother ran an industrial company in the North of France, EUROVANILLE, specialized in the processing of natural vanilla. As early as 2000, industrial customers began to demand reduced and controlled microbial loads on the vanilla powders manufactured by EUROVANILLE.

The manager then looked for the best technical solution to be able to pasteurize powders. After having tested several solutions on the market, EUROVANILLE chose the principle of saturated steam. A machine was ordered and installed. 20 years later, it is still working every day at EUROVANILLE.

Based on his experience and convinced of the growing need among food manufacturers, Olivier Bourgois decided to create in 2011 an industrial company able to offer a pasteurization service adapted to dry products. He then toured Europe and the USA to evaluate all existing solutions. The only truly effective solution that seems valid to him remains saturated steam.

He then decided to order a small prototype and to install it in 2012 on a mini site in Éguilles in the south of France. STERIPURE was born.
For 12 months he tested many dry products, nuts, herbs, spices, various powders on this machine. Most of the tests are conclusive. At the end of 2013, he moved to a new, larger site in Rousset. To accompany his development, he doubles the line of his first machine with a more consistent machine. A third line with a specialized rotary machine for powders and seeds will complete the installation.

From 2013 to summer 2018, accompanied by more and more customers and foreigners STERIPURE acquires an expertise and an experience recognized on the market of the pasteurization of dry products. An industrial tool certified ISO 22000, and teams trained and qualified have enabled STERIPURE to successfully process more and more tons.

The walls becoming too small to meet the demand, STERIPURE invests and in 2018, a new site 2.5 times larger. Custom built for the pasteurization business, this responsible site houses a fourth line. This is a rotary line capable of processing powders or seeds in large volumes, up to 10 tons per 24 hours. The volumes treated will exceed 2200 tons in 2021. More than 120 different products have been processed this year, the majority of which are nuts.

Motivated by quality and customer service, Olivier Bourgois continues to invest:

• On certifications: The Gardanne site is ISO22000 FSSC and has acquired ECOCERT, Kosher and Halal certifications.
• On the teams. 26 employees now, with the recent arrival of 3 new managers.

Karima Benarab, financial and accounting manager joined us after a successful career in England in large companies.

David Matip, in charge of customer relations, excellent organizer and ERP specialist

Anastasia Saulnier, production manager, after a successful career managing production teams in the pharmaceutical and aeronautical industries.

The STERIPURE team is now in place to face the year 2022 with a lot of confidence and with the ambition to satisfy even more all its current and new customers. The volumes entrusted to us will continue to grow and will probably exceed 2500 tons. Customers can rest assured that the saturation point is still far away!