The Illinois-based grain trading and animal feed additive company has been developing alternative ingredients for animal nutrition to address changing industry practices, said Pierre Duprat, president, Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) Animal Nutrition.
He said the business' acquisitions and research focus fit well with the company’s new corporate statement, which is focused on 'unlocking the power of nature.'
“Our customers are asking for fewer and fewer chemicals and antibiotics,” he told FeedNavigator. “And we coupled that with sustainability efforts.”
There is interest in using the information generated from the company's work on human nutrition to inform research and development on animal feed, he said.
Within the animal nutrition business there are five areas that the division is focused on, said Duprat. These include additives and ingredients, premixes, pet food, complete feed for livestock and aquaculture.
Work to fully integrate Neovia, the company's second biggest acquisition in its history, into ADM Animal Nutrition continues, he said. First-year returns following the acquisition were ahead of expectations and work is currently focused on co-mingling product lines, he said.
“Neovia carried out a lot of acquisitions in the past, so we have a fantastic base on which to develop organically.”
The initial integration phase saw a focus on synergies as well as cost savings and rationalization exercises.
Next steps will focus on getting the teams cross-selling, finding new opportunities, and bringing the strength of both sides together, he added. That process will include establishing which feed additives and ingredients continue in which product lines and under what name, he said.
He also flagged recent investments ADM has made in animal nutrition facilities in the US, Vietnam, China and the Philippines.
November 2019 saw ADM's new Vietnamese feed plant go live. The factory is located in Hoa Mac, in the northern Hà Nam province of the country. That new facility, which targets the poultry and swine sectors, reportedly cost US$22.1m. It brings to five the number of dedicated animal feed factories the company now has in that Southeast Asian country, all of which it gained when it acquired Neovia.
