What Sitra Group does

Sitra Group is a Belgian-headquartered, family-owned fourth-party logistics (4PL) provider specializing exclusively in the transport and logistics of food commodities. Founded in 1962 by Robert Saelens and now led by CEO Birger De Smet with David Saelens as Executive Chairman, the company operates more than 1,000 owned trucks and 2,500 trailers/containers, conducts 20,000 daily pallet movements, and converts approximately 20 million km of road transport per year onto rail and water. Service scope spans road, rail, and maritime transport for liquid, powder and palletized food products, complemented by cross-docking (Dover, UK), coldstore storage, bulk storage, IBC container services (500–1,100 litres), in-house customs/forwarding, tank-cleaning stations in seven countries, and rental/second-hand equipment sales.

The commercial focus is on blue-chip food producers — disclosed customers include Barry Callebaut (liquid chocolate), Mars Inc. (three consecutive Mars Transport Awards, 2019-2021), Suiker Unie, Cosun Beet Company, Ceres Soufflet and Pringles — with vertical specialization across Food & Beverages, Agriculture, Animal Feed, Organic/Bio, Meat & Poultry, Industrial, and Pharma raw materials. The company holds FSSC 22000, ISO 9001, BRC, IFS, Kosher, AEO, FCA, SQAS, EFTCO Food Assessment and EcoVadis Silver certifications, which together act as the regulatory gating mechanism for winning enterprise food accounts.

Revenue is generated principally through managed-service 4PL contracts (long-term enterprise relationships), supplemented by recurring tank-cleaning fees, equipment rental, and transactional second-hand equipment sales. Pricing is bespoke and quote-based with no published tiers. Following the January 2026 acquisition of Marlep Tanklogistik GmbH (Germany), the group exceeds 1,600 employees across roughly 12 European countries plus a Moldova shared service center, with annual turnover above EUR 300 million and a publicly disclosed EUR 500 million medium-term revenue target. Backed since 2021 by Creafund as a minority strategic investor with ~EUR 350m AUM, SITRA has pursued an active buy-and-build program (Ricotto IT 2022, Abbey Logistics UK 2023, Albert Keijzer NL 2025, Marlep DE 2026), having previously divested its non-core chemical-liquid bulk business to Den Hartogh in 2015 to sharpen its food-only positioning.

Name

Sitra Group

Legal name

Sitra Invest NV

Website

https://sitra-group.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1962

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Sitra Group is a Belgian family-owned 4PL logistics provider specializing exclusively in food commodity transport (liquid, powder, pallet) by road, rail and water. It serves blue-chip food producers across roughly 12 European countries with a fleet of 1,000+ trucks and 2,500 trailers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Ypres

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices19 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. 4PL Logistics Services: SITRA acts as a fourth-party logistics provider, managing the entire logistics chain for food producers. They offer comprehensive transport and logistics services including road, rail, and water transport, cross-docking, storage, and cleaning stations. Revenue is generated through service fees for managing and executing logistics operations.
2. Equipment Rental: Rental of rolling stock including refrigerated semi-trailers, with or without logo, for short or longer periods.
3. Second-hand Equipment Sales: Sale of used trucks and semi-trailers according to specific model, model year or price requirements.
4. Tank Cleaning Services: Ultramodern cleaning stations for third parties to clean tank trucks, bulk trucks and IBC containers. Certified according to EFTCO, ISO 9001 and SQAS requirements.
5. IBC Container Services: IBC containers (500-1100 litres) available for cold and hot product storage, short or long period. Services include transport, rental, cleaning, maintenance and repair.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

SITRA Group is a 4PL (Fourth-Party Logistics) service provider that manages the entire logistics chain for food products across Europe and Russia. It offers multimodal transport (road, rail, water), cross-docking, cold storage, bulk storage, cleaning stations, IBC container solutions, customs services, equipment rental, and second-hand rolling stock sales. The company serves enterprise food producers with a fleet of 1,000+ owned trucks and 2,500 trailers/containers across 12 countries.

Product overview

SITRA Group is a 4PL (Fourth-Party Logistics) service provider offering comprehensive food logistics solutions across Europe and Russia. The core offering comprises multimodal transport services (road, rail, and water/maritime) for food products in liquid, powder, and pallet form. The company operates as a unified platform with integrated add-on services including cross-docking, cold storage, cleaning stations, bulk storage, IBC container solutions, customs services, and equipment rental. Key supporting services include the Track & Trace system with temperature monitoring, STS (Smart Transport Solution) for sustainable transport optimization, and SITRA Academy for driver training. The portfolio includes acquired brands Abbey Logistics Group (UK food tanker logistics) and Marlep Tanklogistik (German liquid food logistics), with operations across 12 countries and a fleet of over 1,000 trucks and 2,500 trailers/containers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SITRA Academy: Government-approved training centre established in 2017 for intensive training at commencement of employment and continuous in-service training for drivers and employees regarding transport, safety and technicality
• SITRA Cleaning Stations

Products and services

• Road Transport

Quantifiable outcome

• 20 million km converted from road to rail/water transport annually
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Intermarché-WantyminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2024Cycling team sponsorship partnership for brand visibility. Team Intermarché-Wanty represents SITRA in professional cycling competitions.
• Barry CallebautcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing strategic partner for transport of liquid chocolate. Barry Callebaut recognizes SITRA through quality, flexibility, short communication lines and competitive pricing. This partnership exemplifies SITRA's positioning as the food specialist par excellence.
• DAF TruckscoreOthersLong-standing truck supplier partnership. SITRA orders hundreds of DAF trucks including latest generation DAF XG and XF trailers. DAF named International Truck of the Year 2018. Partnership includes testing new DAF truck models.
• Schmitz CargobullminorOthersTrailer supplier partnership for refrigerated trailers. Partnership includes delivery of 50 new fridge trailers.
• LAG TrailersminorOthersTank truck supplier. Order for ten tank trucks from LAG Trailers for high-quality transport of chocolate.
• ScaniaminorOthersCNG (Compressed Natural Gas) truck supplier. Purchase of 3 new CNG Scania trucks in Dutch subsidiary for green technologies investment.
• Ceres SouffletminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerModal shift partnership for green and sustainable food transports between Belgium and Poland. Joint effort to shift road transport to more eco-friendly rail transport.
• PringlesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerModal shift partnership for sustainable food transports between Belgium and Poland.
• Suiker UniecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEurope's greenest sugar beet processor extending collaboration with SITRA. Strong believer in sustainability will continue to count on SITRA's ecological transport solutions.
• Scouting Capital AdvisorsminorOthersM&A advisor for SITRA Group (Italy) providing advisory services for acquisitions.
• RödlminorOthersLegal/tax/financial advisor and due diligence provider for SITRA in Germany.
• Nachfolge 360minorOthersM&A advisor for Marlep Tanklogistik in Germany.
• Hogan LovellsminorOthersLegal advisor for Marlep Tanklogistik in Germany.

Scale indicators16 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• H.Essers: Belgian family-owned multimodal logistics provider specializing in chemicals, pharma, and food. Comparable on Belgian family-business DNA, European footprint, and tank/warehouse service mix targeting regulated end-markets overlapping with Sitra's.
• Vos Logistics: Dutch family-owned logistics specialist covering bulk liquids, food, and chemicals with pan-European coverage. Directly comparable on liquid bulk food/chemical tank operations and family-business model.
• Bertschi: Swiss family-owned bulk liquid logistics and intermodal operator with deep European footprint. Highly comparable in multimodal bulk liquid (ISO tank, road, rail, deep-sea) service offering and similar family-business heritage.
• Den Hartogh Logistics: Dutch family-owned liquid bulk logistics specialist covering chemicals, food, and gas. Den Hartogh actually acquired Sitra's chemical bulk business in 2015, making it a direct former-parent / now-competitor and the closest comparable in food-grade liquid bulk transport in Europe.
• Royal Wagenborg: Dutch family-owned multimodal logistics group with shipping, road transport, and warehousing operations across Europe. Comparable on family-controlled governance and multimodal European service portfolio.
• De Rijke: Dutch liquid food and bulk logistics specialist serving FMCG and industrial customers across Europe. Closely comparable on liquid bulk food tanker fleet and European cross-border food-grade transport.

Broad incumbents

• Ewals Cargo Care: Dutch multimodal logistics provider with strong European road, intermodal, and warehousing footprint. Comparable in scale and multimodal European offering, though broader in end-markets (including FMCG, automotive, paper) beyond food.
• CEVA Logistics: Global contract logistics and freight management provider (CMA CGM subsidiary) with extensive European contract logistics and food/cold-chain capabilities. Comparable on end-to-end managed contract logistics services for large enterprise customers, though operating at much larger scale.
• Kuehne+Nagel: Swiss-headquartered global logistics major with strong European road, contract logistics, and cold-chain capabilities. Overlaps with Sitra on food/beverage customers and cross-border European distribution, though at materially larger scale and broader portfolio.
• DSV: Danish global transport and logistics company with significant European road and contract logistics operations. Serves as a broader, much larger incumbent in the same end-markets including food logistics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/SitraGroup
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sitragroup
• Instagraminstagram.com/sitragroup

Compliance12 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sitra Group