Business Update – Feed concept, new factories
Every week, Pig Progress looks back on the previous week’s business news, conveniently capturing and summarising the most important business updates in the pig industry. Here are this week’s highlights.
Vida piglet feed concept launched
ForFarmers has developed a new feed concept for piglets with Trouw Nutrition under the Vida brand. The new brand range is aimed at piglets from day one through to the grower phase. ForFarmers will be launching Vida in the Netherlands, Germany, the UK and Belgium in early October, making it their largest ever international product launch.
Vida Piglet Feeds, powered by Milkiwean have been tested on over 26,000 piglets on more than 40 farms throughout North West Europe. In addition, the new products have been rigorously tested in Trouw Nutrition’s research centres over the past 6 months. In the testing, the companies claim that feed intake levels are very impressive proving that the feeds are highly palatable. Also that growth rates are outstanding and feed efficiency are all at levels substantially improved on all the Vida products.
Nuscience opens new plant in Drongen
The Nuscience Group has opened a new, modern plant in Drongen, Belgium, very close to Ghent. The facility will replace the current production sites in Drongen and Baasrode and represents a major simplification of the production logistics. The plant will also double the current production capacity to more than 10,000 tonnes per month.
The new plant allows Nuscience Belgium to produce its entire product portfolio at one location. The plant is automated and has been equipped with various ‘best practices’ and innovations from other industries. The process configuration and the silo park provide the flexibility to quickly respond to market demands and changing technologies within the ingredient and premix sector.
Choice Genetics China launched
On September 5, Choice Genetics launched Choice Genetics China, its new subsidiary in China. In Nanjing, more than 300 people attended the opening ceremony, which was followed by a one-day congress called First Forum of Swine Breeding in China. The new subsidiary is based in Hexian county, Anhui province).
The company’s mission is twofold: the implementation and management of an R&D centre consisting of a 1,500 sow farm with pure line stock. Secondly, the sales and marketing of the company’s breeding stock in China. The team of 35 people shall be headed by general manager, Gu Yaping. The company increased commitment to the Chinese market after Groupe Grimaud and Ningbo Tech-Bank entered into a strategic partnership in pig genetics late 2014.
Award for Alltech Mycotoxin Management programme
The Alltech Mycotoxin Management programme has been recognised with a star in the Chinese feed trade business. Online media outlet China Feed Industry Information Network recently presented the Alltech Mycotoxin Management programme with the ‘Star Feed Additive – Top 5 Mycotoxin Solution’ award. The award comes after 7 phases of online voting and a review by a 30-member expert team.
This was the second award that the programme has received in China as China Animal Health Magazine bestowed the programme with the 2014 Double Effect Star Solution award.
Evonik: additional methionine plant in Singapore
Feed additive manufacturer Evonik Industries has started the planning stage for the construction of an additional world-scale plant complex in Singapore. The facility, which will produce the amino acid DL-methionine for animal nutrition, will have an annual production capacity of 150,000 metric tonnes and is expected to start operations in 2019. It still requires authorisation from the Evonik committees.
Evonik’s most recent methionine plant in Singapore took up its operations in 2014 after a two-year construction period. The new plant is planned to be right next to the existing facility. nine plant on Jurong Island in Singapore. The location in Singapore allows Evonik to serve Asian growth markets. Evonik sells DL-methionine under the brand name MetAmino.
Magapor celebrates 25th anniversary
Spanish genetics company Magapor recently looked back to the year 1990, as it is 25 years ago that the company was set up by the Mena brothers. The company now has a staff of 70 employees and customers from more than 40 countries all over the world.
The mission of the company has always been to provide solutions to the problems of final customers, which results on the development of a wide product portfolio in constant evolution to assist in all the production stages of boar semen doses, from collection to insemination.
