TETRA Celebrates 20th Anniversary of Its Chemicals Business in Europe
By Stephen Hood | Marketing and Technical Writer | December 11th, 2024
Enterprising Genesis
October 2024 marked the 20th anniversary of TETRA’s chemicals business in Europe. The story of this enterprise began in 2004, when TETRA established its chemicals business in Europe with its main office in Helsingborg, Sweden, and a production facility in Kokkola, Finland.
In pursuing the business, TETRA sought to market calcium chloride outside the United States—where it had been selling the product for decades—and further expand its market to food, beverage, agriculture, and various technical applications.
Compound Versatility
A versatile and highly beneficial compound, calcium chloride (CaCl2) is used in a wide range of applications:
- in making cheese and other dairy products, it helps improve coagulation of milk proteins, reduces the amount of needed rennet, optimizes rennet action, decreases curdling time;
- in brewing beer, it nourishes yeast growth to help improve fermentation, increase extract yield from grains, and prevent off-flavors and discoloration;
- in pickling vegetables, it helps maintain crispiness and is an excellent addition to pickling brine;
- in canning foods like olives, cucumbers, onions, and tomatoes, it helps preserve freshness, retain firmness, and is considered a safer alternative to preservatives like sulfites and alum;
- in treating potable water, it helps neutralize alkaline which may improve taste and may make it safe for consumption;
- in treating wastewater, it helps remove certain impurities and improves clarity to make it safe for discharge;
- in maintaining roadways, it acts as a dust suppressant in dry seasons and de-ices surfaces in cold climates;
- in absorbing moisture from certain gases and solvents, it serves as a desiccant;
- in constructing with concrete, it accelerates cement hydration to obtain predictable performance characteristics;
- in making plastics and polymers, it helps remove moisture to prevent defects such as bubbles and voids, and helps maintain optimal integrity and dimensional stability; and
- in making paper, it helps enhance fiber formation which may yield a smoother, more uniform surface for better printing.
TETRA calcium chloride is used in the making of beer and cheese.
To provide for these diverse applications, TETRA offers four variants of calcium chloride in different concentrations: CC farm, CC food, CC road, and CC tech, all of which are available in either liquid or solid (flake) form.
Kokkola and Beyond
TETRA is one of the largest producers of calcium chloride in Europe, and the centerpiece of our production is the plant in Kokkola, Finland. The plant was built in 1962 and is part of the Kokkola Industrial Park, a model of circular economics known as the “largest ecosystem of inorganic chemical industry” in Northern Europe.
The TETRA calcium chloride production plant in Kokkola, Finland.
Since its acquisition by TETRA in 2004, the plant has undergone a number of upgrades, beginning with the installation of a steam-powered evaporator in 2008. In 2015 a new filter press helped to lessen waste and increase production capacity, and in 2023 a second evaporator further enhanced production stability and output.
As a port town on the eastern shore of Bothnia Bay, Kokkola is an ideal transit hub with maritime access to the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, and beyond. With distribution terminals strategically located in Sweden, Spain, and Belgium, TETRA has a logistical network that enables rapid and efficient delivery of calcium chloride to our continental terminals, with a preference for shipping via marine vessel as a more environmental alternative to shipping overland via truck.
Loading a marine vessel with calcium chloride at the facility in Kokkola.
Camaraderie & Creativity
Behind the manufacture and marketing of calcium chloride are our people. From the production plant in Kokkola to the office in Helsingborg, the success of our flourishing business depends on people working together, working hard, and being creative.
To celebrate our 20th anniversary, our employees in Europe came together in Finland and were joined by leaders from the United States for an evening of entertainment. The event was held in an historical building called Vanha Tullipakkahuone (the old Customs House) in the heart of Kokkola.
It was a memorable evening and particularly special to have our invited guests, including retirees who had been with the business since its inception in the early 1960s.
Site of the 20th-anniversary celebration of TETRA’s chemicals business in Europe,
Vanha Tullipakkahuone in the heart of Kokkola.
Christina Holtenäs, Managing Director addressing attendees at the 20th-anniversary
celebration in Kokkola, Finland, in October 2024.
Looking Back and Ahead
To summarize the past 20 years, our journey has been adventurous and at times bumpy, and we’ll likely traverse more bumps going forward. Amid the world’s rapid and dramatic changes, we must be able to handle the unexpected—we’ve done it in the past, and we will continue to do it in the future.
As our chemicals business in Europe moves forward, we will continue growing the TETRA family, highlighting our expertise in chemistry and the high-quality of our calcium chloride. As always, our ONE TETRA values—people, safety, performance, opportunity, trust, and making a difference—remain integral to all that we do.
TETRA is a global Company consisting of people from different countries and cultures. For decades now our diversity has stirred creativity and imaginative problem-solving, enabling us to go from good to great to excellent. We are confident that future decades will be just as adventurous and rewarding.
