Apligén is family-run and has an annual turnover of around €30m. It ranks seventh among the country's premix and feed services players, with strong positions in ruminants and swine, said Neovia.
Based in the State of Mexico, the company has 84 employees, a production site, and four warehouses around the country.
Mexico is among the major world producers in several key species: sixth in beef, fifth in poultry, and sixth in egg production, noted the French group.
Neovia entered that market in 2007 through the acquisition of a majority interest in Malta Cleyton, which represents 70% of its business in Mexico. The French group ranks among the top three in the petfood segment there, and it said it also holds strong positions in the premix business and aquaculture segment in the Central American country.
“Mexico accounts for 25% of the global turnover of Neovia and remains a key country for us. Our interest [in it] lies in the fact that feed production in Mexico, at 31 million tons (Source Feed Latina 2015), is the fourth largest in the world, and that it is experiencing steady growth linked to continuous population expansion and improvements in the standard of living.
“In addition, the animal nutrition market in Mexico is becoming more and more eager to develop technical and technological services - a situation that represents an opportunity for the development of the Mexican premix market and that explains our investment in Apligén.
“Mexico is also a key market for the petfood industry and ranks among the ten major countries in terms of volume in this activity,” Matthieu Leroy, CEO advisor and chief transformation officer, Neovia, told us.
New factory
Neovia inaugurated an animal nutrition manufacturing plant in Texcoco in Mexico in September last year. That facility produces feed for pork, poultry, aquaculture, ruminants and horses.
“The Texcoco facility works well and is, globally, in line with objectives,” said Leroy.
The French firm also revealed plans last autumn to build a major new facility in the Veracruz state in 2018, but Leroy said it would be premature to give an update on the status of that project at this stage.
Neovia has been expanding its footprint in Latin America in recent years. In January, it confirmed its acquisition of Brazilian animal nutrition player, Nutrizon, was approved. The French company announced it was interested in buying Nutrizon in September 2016 but was awaiting authorization by the competition authorities there.
That deal saw it gain a greater foothold in the aquaculture, pet food, and ruminant segments in Brazil, while supporting its export activity in Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador through strategically located production sites.
Neovia is in the top five premix producers globally but has ambitions to climb up a few rungs on the ladder.
François Fernandez, director of the Wisium brand, told this publication previously the group is aiming to apply its expertise in nutrition and technical support on farm, along with its market knowledge and analysis and its tailored formulation capacity to the agri-business segment in Africa and Asia and Latin America “to ensure animal performance gains for end users.”