From our first joint project in Gumowo to the ongoing expansion of the facility in Raciąż, 2026 marks 20 years of partnership between Cedrob S.A. and UNIA GRAINS. Over these two decades, the scale of investment projects has grown, grain storage and drying capacities have increased, and the technological solutions implemented in each successive facility have evolved alongside them.

Two decades of cooperation provide a good opportunity to look back at the journey we have taken together with Cedrob S.A. – one of Europe’s largest producers of poultry and pork.

The scale of Cedrob’s operations is underpinned by an integrated “from grain to table” production model. One of its key elements is feed production, which currently exceeds 1.5 million tonnes per year. Operating on such a scale requires all facilities and processes to function as one efficient, interconnected system – from grain intake and drying, through conveying, to the safe storage of vast volumes of raw material.

For 20 years, UNIA GRAINS has been involved in developing the infrastructure that supports this process.

20 Years in Numbers

Today, our partnership can be summed up in the following figures:

6 grain drying and storage facilities completed across 4 locations,

345,000 tonnes of total storage capacity across completed facilities and those currently under construction,

6 grain dryers, with a combined capacity to dry more than 5,000 tonnes of corn per day.

Behind each of these figures are successive stages of infrastructure development and the experience gained through the design, commissioning and many years of operation of these facilities.

Our Shared Story Began in Gumowo

The first chapter of this partnership was written in Gumowo in 2006. At that time, before our integration with the UNIA Group, we designed, manufactured, built and commissioned a facility there with a storage capacity of approximately 34,000 tonnes.

The facility was equipped with a grain dryer and a comprehensive grain conveying system and remains an important part of Cedrob’s storage infrastructure to this day.

The next stage was Raciąż. In 2010, a facility providing approximately 42,000 tonnes of storage capacity was commissioned there. The scale of operations at both sites clearly demonstrates the important role they play in the overall process – together, the facilities in Gumowo and Raciąż handle approximately 500,000 tonnes of grain per year.

Further projects followed in Rypin and Ligota Dolna. The scale of development is particularly evident in Rypin, where the construction of two facilities and the expansion of the first resulted in a total storage capacity of approximately 143,000 tonnes.

These investments increased annual grain throughput by a further one million tonnes.

Greater Scale Means Greater Demands

Over the past two decades, it has not only been the size and capacity of the facilities that have changed. The demands placed on technology have also increased.

The combined drying capacity of the grain drying and storage facilities we have delivered together now reaches 5,000 tonnes per day – nearly ten times the capacity of our first joint project.

However, achieving this scale is not simply a matter of increasing the number or size of machines. In major investment projects, every element – grain intake, cleaning, drying, cooling, conveying and storage – must form part of a single, properly designed system.

As Tomasz Walerowicz, General Director of Cedrob Pasze, emphasises:

“With investments of this complexity, it is not only the supply of equipment that matters, but also an understanding of Cedrob’s processes and needs, as well as the durability of the solutions implemented. The equipment must be reliable and highly energy-efficient.”

Operational requirements are another important consideration.

“Today, equipment must also meet stringent emission standards and be characterised by low consumption of utilities,” adds Tomasz Walerowicz.

Technology Evolving with Changing Needs

Each successive investment brought new experience and new requirements. As capacities increased, factors such as precise temperature control, process monitoring and the analysis of grain dryer operating data became increasingly important.

As Tomasz Walerowicz points out, these are essential for ensuring that the drying process is carried out correctly – so that the grain is suitable for long-term storage, retains its nutritional properties, and the process remains economical in terms of fuel consumption.

At the facilities in Raciąż and Rypin, we implemented cooling systems working in conjunction with the drying columns, tailored to Cedrob’s specific requirements. These systems make it possible to utilise the capacity of the drying columns more effectively while ensuring more stable cooling and more consistent grain moisture levels.

The dryers used at these facilities feature 70% air recirculation, enabling the recovery of up to 30% of heat and reducing fuel consumption. Given the volume of raw material being processed, differences in efficiency at individual stages of the process have a significant impact on the operating costs of the entire installation.

Over the years, we have also developed our grain conveying technology, solutions designed to reduce energy consumption and noise levels, as well as dust extraction systems. Today, in response to the requirements of the largest facilities, UNIA GRAINS manufactures conveying systems with capacities of up to 600 t/h.

Raciąż – A New Chapter After 20 Years

The anniversary of our partnership coincides with another important milestone in our shared history.

We are currently expanding the facility in Raciąż. The first facility at this location, commissioned in 2010, provided approximately 42,000 tonnes of storage capacity. The new investment will add a further 54,000 tonnes.

Once the work is completed, the Raciąż facility will be able to store nearly 100,000 tonnes of grain.

The decision to expand the facility further was made after more than a decade of operating the original installation. During this time, the solutions implemented could be thoroughly tested under real operating conditions, and the experience gained from their use could be applied to the design of the next stage.

This is precisely how our partnership with Cedrob has developed over the past 20 years – each successive project has been larger and more demanding, while at the same time benefiting from the knowledge gained through previous investments.

20 Years of Growing Together

From approximately 34,000 tonnes of capacity at the first facility in Gumowo to 345,000 tonnes of storage capacity across facilities completed or currently under construction. From the first grain dryer to installations capable of drying more than 5,000 tonnes of corn per day in total.

These figures illustrate the scale of the transformation that has taken place over the past two decades.

For UNIA GRAINS, however, the 20th anniversary of our cooperation with Cedrob is above all the story of a partnership that has developed consistently over time. Each successive investment has placed greater demands on us in terms of capacity, reliability, energy efficiency, process safety and the quality of stored grain – while at the same time providing an impetus for the continued development of our technologies.

Today, exactly 20 years after the start of our first joint investment, we are once again working in Raciąż.

It is the best proof that the story that began in 2006 continues to unfold, with new chapters still being written.