R&D - Project

Wallep Completed

Development of a new product range to benefit the spelt value chain in Wallonia

Funded by the Marshall Plan, the Wallep project is structuring a sustainable spelt value chain in Wallonia. The objective: to add value to this local cereal through short supply chains to ensure a stable income for farmers.

Golden wheat ears in a field
Whisky poured into a glass with ice

The Wallep research project, supported by the Marshall Plan, aims to structure a high-performing value chain for Walloon spelt. This sustainable cereal, suited to challenging climatic conditions and requiring fewer inputs, is seeing growing demand but suffers from a lack of coordination between supply and demand.

Strategic objectives of the project

  • Market stabilisation: Identifying structures capable of processing spelt to ensure a consistent supply and secure farmers’ income.

  • Product innovation: Creating new spelt-based products for local markets and export.

  • Scientific research: Identifying the cereal’s specific organoleptic properties to increase its future added value.

  • Circular economy: Maximising the value of the entire harvest to avoid unsold surpluses.

The pillars of the value chain

  • Sustainable economy: Ensuring a stable and acceptable income for all stakeholders, from producer to processor.

  • Local anchoring: Prioritising supply to agri-food companies from local Walloon production.

  • Traceability and transparency: Implementing a system that enables consumers to know the origin of their purchase and farmers to track where their products go.

In this project, Celabor focused on optimising the alcohol production process from spelt:
  • Spelt selection: Choosing the variety best suited to alcohol production.
  • Malting: Producing the enzymes required for starch saccharification and developing malt aromas.
  • Mashing & fermentation: Extracting and hydrolysing starch into simple fermentable sugars through the action of malt enzymes. Converting sugars into alcohol through the action of yeasts.
  • Distillation: Separating the alcohol into several fractions (heads, heart and tails).
  • Barrel ageing: Studying whisky maturation, the release of wood aromas, and the breakdown of undesirable aromatic compounds.

Documents