In line with its growth strategy, last week [4 December], the company opened a new river loading dock on the Mekong Delta for its complete feed plant in Dong Thap, Vietnam. It said the €2m investment would facilitate the expansion of its export business to Laos and Cambodia by allowing it to ship goods via the 25,000km river network.
This move followed the opening of a sales office in Cambodia and a subsidiary in the Philippines earlier this year, giving InVivo NSA a presence in seven Asian countries. The group has six complete feed plants in the region (four in Vietnam and two in Indonesia), premix factories in China and India and analysis laboratories in Vietnam and China.
A spokesperson for the feed giant discussed its ten year development program for its Asian business, which currently accounts for 11% of the group’s €1.5 billion ($1.86bn) turnover.
“We have a strong focus on Asia in our strategy for the coming decade. We plan to invest heavily in developing our complete feed and premix businesses there,” she said.
Whilst much of the projected growth will be organic, the InVivo NSA spokesperson revealed that growth through acquisition would also form part of the mix.
Finding a point of difference
She described the feed market in Asia as “highly competitive and fragmented”, dominated by strong regional players such as CP, New Hope, Zennoh, Proconco and Japfa.
In order to build its share of the market, the representative said InVivo’s strategy would be one of differentiation through niche offerings such as BernAqua shrimp feeds and 100% vegetable-source feeds for panga fish, as well as R&D, for example through its genetics partnership with Grimaud and experimental farms in aqua, swine, poultry and duck.
“The aim is for InVivo to provide its customers with a differentiated and high value added offer, based on customer profile and target countries, instead of only selling commodities,” she said.
Add-on services
Another aspect of this approach is developing its services offer, so that customers are not just buying premixes, but also services such as product analysis, formulation and training – an approach that contrasts strongly with that of local manufacturers, who are focused solely on selling product.
“The ‘products and packaged services offers’ are a key differentiation element with regards to most local or regional competitors and should generate strong growth in the coming years, particularly given the context of the global health crisis and changes in food safety and traceability regulations,” said the spokesperson.
Diversified species mix
InVivo NSA also has plans to broaden its product range beyond its stronghold in complete feeds for poultry and aqua feed.
“We are diversifying our species mix with the launch of horse feed and the development of pet food and a feed for ruminants,” she said.
FeedNavigator reported recently on InVivo’s launch of a pre-starter for the Latin America poultry segment and its heightened R&D focus in terms of next generation aqua feeds.