New field of business: The KWS BEETROMETER® has aroused interest at sugar factories. DLG certification now serves as proof that the spectrometer delivers reliable and accurate measurements. And it’s also faster than the lab method.
Certification
Like in the lab, only faster
The KWS BEETROMETER® has now gained certification. It attests that our proprietary analysis system reliably and accurately determines the sugar content of sugarbeet. This opens up new opportunities worldwide.
There is no lack of interest: Sugar factories in several countries – from the U.S. to China and from Kyrgyzstan to Egypt – are already using the KWS BEETROMETER® to determine the sugar content of beet upon delivery. Up to now, analysis in the laboratory has actually been more common. “However, our method is much faster and doesn’t need specialized personnel, chemicals or other consumables,” says Linda Eijsink, Scientific Manager in the BEETROMETER® team.
But is it also just as precise and reliable as a lab? KWS has used this technology in breeding for more than 15 years. Nevertheless, the sugar industry and farmers’ associations wanted certification by independent third parties.
Alexander Kromer, the team’s Technical Manager, therefore set out to find a solution and came across the German Agricultural Society (DLG). It certifies not only the quality of food, but also that of technologies. So an internationally recognized certifying body had been found! In September 2025, an opportunity arose to present the KWS BEETROMETER® at a sugar factory and, at the same time, invite an expert from the DLG.
The KWS BEETROMETER® lined up there alongside the conventional method: While a 30-kilogram sample was shredded, processed and reduced within 20 minutes to a two-milliliter solution for a traditional laboratory analysis, the BEETROMETER® chopped up the entire 30 kilograms and delivered the result within seconds using a spectrometer. The DLG confirmed that the results of both methods concurred. “Now we have independent proof,” says a happy Alexander.
New clientèle
This precise measurement is important for sugar factories. “It’s the incoming goods inspection,” says Alexander. After all: “Farmers are mostly paid based on the sugar content of the beet they supply,” explains Linda. When sugar factories are looking for a faster method, laboratories need to be upgraded anyway or factories have previously been unable to perform a chemical analysis at all, the BEETROMETER® opens up an opportunity for KWS to tap into a new clientèle: There is significant potential for selling further analysis equipment to sugar factories around the world.
That also means a new field of business for KWS. “For 170 years, KWS has been synonymous with high-quality seed. With the BEETROMETER®, we’re offering a technical innovation that gives our customers extra added value,” says Alexander. The BEETROMETER® systems are currently built by KWS Seeds in the U.S. Sugar factories can either lease them for one or two campaigns at first or buy them outright. “Maintenance and service are included too,” says Linda.
Right after gaining certification, the KWS BEETROMETER® was subjected to another comparison: Beet from the same harvest were sent to various sugar factory laboratories, to the Institute of Sugar Beet Research in Göttingen, and now also to Linda and Alexander with the BEETROMETER®. In this ring test, all the results are compared at the end. An analysis is considered reliable if its outcome is at a comparable level as the tests of the other participants. The BEETROMETER® again demonstrated its reliability here. |
Alexander Kromer
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