Traditional French expertise

The process of extracting chestnut wood was invented by a fabric dyeing specialist from Lyon, Mr. Michel, in 1819, specifically to replace the gall nuts used for dyeing silk in black. Its use diversified and became widespread for tanning leather. France was therefore the world’s sole manufacturer of the extract. Other countries, such as Italy and Yugoslavia, then began to produce chestnut wood extract.

From 1950 onwards, production declined steadily as chrome replaced plant extracts for tanning leather. By 1980, there was only one factory left in France, owned by the Isoroy group. In order to develop new applications in animal feed, ECOPSI* formed a partnership with this last remaining French manufacturer of chestnut wood extract in 1990. Since then, this market has continued to grow.

Then, in 1998, when the last French chestnut extract factory closed, the TIERNY family decided to revive this activity in France with the creation of Kingtree in 2015: a new, fully automated factory built entirely from food-grade stainless steel.

Today, the company has around twenty employees who are committed to the same mission: combining nature, science, and sustainability.

The company has won numerous awards for its innovative projects, supported by several major players in the field and in the region.

* ECOPSI (Etude et COmmercialisation de Produits Secondaires Industriels) : Company founded in 1989 by Jean-Benoît TIERNY. Based in Arras and specializing in animal nutrition.