The Angers-based company announced the setting up of its Algerian subsidiary – Nor Feed Maghreb - in January.
Nor Feed Maghreb has its own manufacturing facility based in the Tiaret province of northwestern Algeria. Production kick-started last month using active ingredients developed by the French parent company.
"We are able to offer tailor-made products for the local market thanks to our Algerian partners’ insights and expertise," said Sélim El Amouri, operational marketing and communications officer at Nor Feed Sud.
He said the company's short-term priority is to develop the Algerian affiliate and meet the local market needs.
"The plan then is to address the regional markets and approach countries such as Morocco and Tunisia.
The market approach of Nor-Feed Sud is four-fold: direct approach in some key markets, partnership with distributors in a number of countries, close B2B cooperation with a limited number of global players, and subsidiaries established with local entrepreneurs - Nor-Feed Maghreb being the first one,” he told FeedNavigator.com.
Milk consumption
The Algerian subsidiary was three years in development with Nor Feed Sud citing growing production and the consumption of milk, poultry and beef in the North African country as one of the triggers for the move.
The consumption of milk in Algeria is, on average, 100 litres per year per person, and the country is the second importer of milk and milk powder in the world (US$1.26bn in 2012), just after China and before India.
The Nor Feed product range sold in Algeria is based on a limited number of botanicals, said El Amouri.
The botanicals target ruminants such as cattle, sheep and goats and also other livestock sectors such as poultry and rabbits.
The range include the firm's lines of grape extract antioxidants for oxidative stress reduction, citrus based prebiotics for gut health, saponin extracts for optimizing meat and milk ouput as well as a magnesium based product for calming animals down during weaning and transportation.
Agricultural sector
Due to the immense reserves of oil and their weight in Algeria’s economy, agriculture was not considered as a priority until the 2000s when the government launched a programme to develop Algerian agriculture, diversify the economy and boost the country’s self-sufficiency.
The programme included the modernization of breeding equipment, the development of irrigation systems, as well as moves to boost productivity and veterinary controls.
But Algeria still depends on meat imports.
The country imported around 120,000 dairy cows in 2013 and also imported US$25m worth of fresh meat during the first five months of 2013, according to Algerian government official data.