The two companies have been working together for many years in both human and animal health.
Bioiberica told us that, prior to this deal, Barentz distributed those products in Italy only.
“This addition is a perfect fit with our growth strategy on specialty, sustainable ingredients and additives for animal nutrition,” said Tim Lemeer, vice president, Barentz Animal Nutrition.
The Palbio range includes hydrolyzed proteins in the form of L-α-amino acids and bioactive peptides, which the company claims positively affects the intestinal health of young animals.
Nucleoforce comprises free nucleotides and active precursors, obtained from yeast extracts. The company maintains that different studies have shown that the product helps strengthen the immune and digestive systems in young animals during the rapid maturation phases of their immune and intestinal systems.
“The best application of nucleotides is in pre-starter and starter feed in terms of broilers and laying hens,” said Xavier Córdoba, animal nutrition director, at that Barcelona headquartered company.
“Furthermore, nucleotides are totally aligned with antibiotic reduction strategies, which is becoming commonplace everywhere.”
Increasing global footprint
He said the new agreement with Barentz was key for Bioiberica’s internationalization strategy.
In July, Córdoba outlined how Bioiberica was trying to build its presence in the US and other markets.
“We are promoting our nucleotides all over the world. We are mainly focused on European markets, on LATAM and on Asian countries. But we now have different projects underway to promote our products in other markets in which we have had no presence until now, namely the US and Egypt.”
Nucleotides are highly technical products and growing a presence in a new market requires time in terms of training, understanding and trials, he said.