The deal follows an extensive period of technical exchange and collaboration between the two companies.
The new partnership connects NUQO’s experience in feed additives with Aditech’s wide knowledge of the Polish feed market, said Ewenn Helary, CEO of NUQO.
“We feel very fortunate to have found a partner like Aditech. It has a great team of very skilled and professional people with a strong network and [established] reputation in the Polish market.”
In terms of why the Polish market appealed, he told us: “I think it's a matter of potential and also opportunity. Despite all the ongoing challenges, Poland remains a dynamic market in Europe, especially for poultry and swine, which are key species for NUQO. So the potential is there. And we know the team of Aditech Polska; we have already had a trustworthy relationship with them.”
The French firm, said the CEO, brings expertise, along with new technologies backed up by solid evidence, to the alliance, giving Aditech more options to expand its business.
NUQO develops products based on the microencapsulation of phytogenics and phycogenics - metabolites from plants and algae. It has three different production sites across Europe.
It is primarily focused on addressing the needs of the monogastric sectors but it has some solutions targeted at the dairy cattle and equine sectors as well. Its product range includes performance enhancers, flavors and attractants to secure palatability, antioxidants for optimal formulation, toxin binders to adjust to contamination risks, and blends of chelates to reduce mineral deficiency.
November last year also saw NUQO expand its operations geographically, with the opening of its first office in South East Asia, creating NUQO Feed Additives Thailand.
Aditech was founded in 2016, and is a 100% Polish producer of additives, supplementary feed and premixes supplying both the Polish and European markets. Its output hits over 6,000 tons per year.
Polish market
Although Poland remains the EU’s largest poultry producer, its broiler sector was severely affected by the COVID-19 crisis and the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak, said the USDA in a report in September last year.
“Large operators focused on the restaurant, hospitality, and institutional (HRI) markets in the UK and Germany were particularly adversely affected, as orders dried up and cross-border logistics become challenging. Domestic demand for poultry meat also declined.”
The USDA forecast then that broiler production in Poland for 2020 would decrease by 3% from 2019. However, it expected that Polish broiler production would rebound towards the latter half of 2020 and early 2021.
African Swine Fever (ASF) has proved an ongoing challenge for the Polish swine sector.
In 2020, a total of 103 pig farms was found to be infected by the virus in Poland, from large to small-scale in terms of farm size, according to a report on Pig Progress in December.
