Evonik and Vland launch probiotic focused JV in China

13-Oct-2023 - Last updated on 15-Oct-2023 at 08:42 GMT

Evonik and Vland representatives signing on the dotted line. © Evonik

Evonik and Shandong Vland Biotech have formed a joint venture in China with a focus on optimizing the gut health of farmed animals.

Evonik Vland Biotech (Shandong) Co Ltd will be headquartered in Binzhou, China. The partners will develop gut health-oriented products.

The JV is an evolution of their existing partnership. Vland and Evonik have been cooperating on probiotics since 2015, and signed a strategic cooperation agreement in 2018. They launched a product called AQUAVI ProPond in China in late 2021, the outcome of two years of joint development work.

Evonik will be the majority shareholder in the JV, holding 55% of the shares.

Market access

The two firms have committed to bring their gut health businesses - such as probiotics and formulated products - into the JV to cover the China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan region, an area that accounts for over 20% of the global feed additives market.

As part of the agreement, Evonik will take on more broader distribution of the JV’s portfolio, in the international arena.

Boost for Evonik in China

The JV is a completely new level of cooperation, stressed a spokesperson for the German company. He told us that the deal is a "tremendous" bost for Evonik's position in China, while Vland benefits from the amino acid producer's global market access.

Sales for the new business, said the parties, are expected to be in the low double-digit million-euro range.

The JV "offers Evonik new opportunities [in relation to] formulated specialty [ingredients], such as multistrain products, as we can easily combine our portfolios beyond competencies," added the representative.

Vland Biotech collaborates with ADM on feed enzyme research and development and, in relation to probotics, it is also aligned with the US agribusiness giant, but on products targeted at the consumer market.