The Farmer Logo

New dairy animal feed joint venture will serve Chinese dairy producers

June 25, 2019

2 Min Read
Two people signing an agreement at a table. It says Agrilakes in the background
Dick Hordijk, Agrifirm CEO, and Beth Ford, Land O'Lakes President and CEO, sign agreements setting up a dairy animal feed joint venture in China. Photo courtesy Agrifirm and Land O’Lakes

U.S.-based Land O'Lakes, Inc. and The Netherlands-based Royal Agrifirm Group will be setting up a dairy animal feed joint venture, Agrilakes, in China.

"With this new investment in China alongside Agrifirm, we are continuing Land O'Lakes' successful international commercial growth strategy focused on partnering with locally-successful companies and working together to drive market expansion," said Jerry Kaminski, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Land O'Lakes. "Thanks to Agrifirm's established infrastructure and reputation in China, paired with Land O'Lakes' strong research and technology expertise, we are confident this new joint venture is well-positioned to help grow both companies."

"With more than 20 years of market experience in China, this joint venture with Land O'Lakes positions Agrifirm to further implement its growth strategy and continue developing a reliable, responsible food chain for future generations in China," said Dick Hordijk, Chief Executive Officer of Agrifirm. "Agrifirm is proud to bring more than 100 years of experience in the feed and dairy business, and deep experience in China, to this new joint venture."

The new joint venture will initially be based in Agrifirm's existing manufacturing plant in Tianjin, with plans to build a new dairy premix and specialty plant on the adjacent property.

Both partner companies bring experience operating in China to the joint venture. Land O'Lakes currently leverages capabilities and proprietary products of its subsidiary businesses Purina Animal Nutrition and WinField United crop protection to help improve dairy productivity in China. It also operates a training facility in China, the Dairy Farming Institute, in partnership with Nestlé. The facility features two training farms, trial fields and a training center to help local forage growers and commercial dairy farmers develop their skills.

Nuscience, a wholly owned subsidiary of Agrifirm and their key global animal nutrition entity, has been in China under the brand LVSAI for 20 years and is operating two young animal nutrition and premix plants, and a business unit that sells feed ingredients and multi-species feed additives.

The formation and funding of Agrilakes has been approved by the Boards of Directors of both cooperatives and is pending appropriate antitrust and regulatory approvals.

Source: Land O'Lakes, Inc., which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset. 

Subscribe to receive top agriculture news
Be informed daily with these free e-newsletters

You May Also Like