Published : 15/07/2026
Customer Success Stories
Inetum accelerates Citribel’s circular revolution
From citric acid to Taylor Swift’s handbag Citribel achieves maximum value from residual flows thanks to Salesforce and Inetum’s strategic expertise.
From Citric Acid Producer to Biotech Pioneer
The Belgian company Citribel, a global market leader in the production of citric acid, is undergoing a fundamental transformation. The company is reinventing itself as a circular biotech pioneer. To support this new market strategy, Citribel replaced its CRM system with the Salesforce platform, with Inetum acting as its strategic implementation partner.
Citribel, based in Tienen, has a history dating back to 1919. What began as a modest company extracting citric acid from lemons has grown into a global player. Since 1947, Citribel has employed a unique circular process: it uses molasses, a residual product from the sugar industry, as the primary raw material for the production of citric acid via natural fermentation.
Global circular innovation
Citribel is now much more than just a citric acid manufacturer. Under the banner of "circular innovation," the company has set a new course. "We are in a transition phase," says ICT manager Geert Reynaerts. "Citric acid is still our main product, but the market has changed profoundly." Due to competition from China, the sector is under great pressure. "That is why we have broadened our focus."
Specifically, Citribel began working with mycelium, a network of fungal threads created during the production of citric acid. Instead of throwing away this residual product, Citribel looked for high-value applications for it. This led to the creation of the MycaNova brand, a biological material made from mycelium. Citribel’s partners use the material in products including synthetic leather. Meanwhile, global superstar Taylor Swift has already been spotted with accessories by fashion designer Stella McCartney that incorporate MycaNova. The latest innovation is MycoFence, a mycelium-based ingredient for aquaculture that supports the natural resistance of salmon and shrimp.
From circular expertise to digital acceleration
With Citribel’s evolution, the need for a structured sales and marketing approach also grew. The existing tools were inadequate for this. "The previous CRM system did not align well with our processes, which meant a lot of work had to be done manually, and we weren't utilizing the system fully," says Sietske de Graaf, marketing and communications specialist at Citribel. "Drafting quotes was done manually, by cutting and pasting in Word documents. Inetum immediately understood that we didn't just need software, but a foundation for our commercial direction."
As the call for automation increased, Citribel faced an important choice, also with a view to a migration to SAP S/4HANA. "It was essential to solve the CRM issue first," says Geert Reynaerts. "Inetum advised us strategically on this: it was pointless to graft marketing automation onto a platform without reliable data." Citribel chose a best-of-breed strategy with Salesforce. "The platform offers the flexibility to grow along with our circular ambitions."
Triple trust and expertise
For the implementation, the choice of partner was crucial. They needed to fully grasp Citribel’s business. The choice of Inetum was based on previous successes and strong confidence in Inetum’s Salesforce team. "Inetum’s team brought the necessary in-depth expertise to fully align the project with our strategic goals," says Geert Reynaerts. "Inetum understood our needs and helped build a platform that our people embraced from day one."
Operational in three months
The time pressure was immense due to the upcoming SAP migration. Together with Inetum, Citribel mapped out a tight roadmap. The focus was on a standardized approach to avoid the mistakes of the past—specifically an excess of customization. Between April and June 2025, the partners rolled out the platform for sales and customer service. Barely a month later, the marketing platform followed. Thanks to Inetum’s decisive approach, Citribel had a fully operational system for twenty active users in just three months.
A 360° view of the customer journey
Although integration with SAP is the next step, Citribel is already reaping the benefits of the transformation. While marketing used to be "organic," the new biotech market requires a consistent approach.
"What used to be impossible is now successful thanks to Salesforce and Inetum. We have all customer data in one clear platform," explains Geert Reynaerts. "When a pharma client now asks a specific question about quality or inventory, sales can answer accurately immediately. We can now respond much faster to trends, such as the demand for sustainable synthetic leather."
Automation has significantly reduced the administrative burden. Time- consuming tasks such as manual follow-ups of trade fair contacts or sending out mass mailings are a thing of the past. The system now registers every interaction immediately for further follow-up.
Future with Agentforce
Citribel is already looking further ahead. The foundations for a data-driven organization have been laid. The possibilities of artificial intelligence are also on the agenda. Citribel is closely following developments regarding Agentforce. "Our focus is now on SAP, but after that, we want to evaluate with Inetum how we can utilize AI to make our sales processes more efficient and further strengthen our role as a circular innovator."
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