Volac and Wilmar feed fats JV bolstered to go beyond dairy and Australasia market

By Jane Byrne

- Last updated on GMT

Volac and Wilmar feed fats JV bolstered to go beyond dairy and Australasia market

Related tags Milk

Volac and Wilmar are scaling up an existing joint venture in feed fats to target both a broader range of livestock production and more regions.

“The move adds value to our current animal feed JV in that we intend to increase scale by expanding global production capacity for Megalac type products and the scope of the alliance will also widen to include the pig, poultry sectors along with the more established dairy segment,”​ Andy Richardson, head of corporate affairs, Volac, told FeedNavigator.

The UK headquartered human and animal nutrition company, Volac, and agri-commodities processing giant, Wilmar, have an established business relationship already through a joint venture called Volac Ingredients SDN BHD (VISB), based in Malaysia and set up in 2003.

That partnership produces Megalac, a rumen protected fat derived from palm fatty acids with calcium, which is also manufactured under license in China.

But while VISB only targets Australasia, the new JV, Volac Wilmar Feed Ingredients, is focused on supplying the globe and moving into monogastric feed fats. “We also plan to broaden the feed fats and oils product portfolio beyond palm fatty acids,” ​said Richardson.

He said the nutritional expertise and sales network of Volac combined with Wilmar’s robust global logistics infrastructure and sheer scale will allow the JV gain “an unprecedented strong market position,”​ in animal feed fats globally.

Capacity expansion timeline

The JV already includes two factories in Malaysia and one in Liverpool. When asked when capacity expansion was likely to come on stream, Richardson said: “We have no firm plans.  But we expect to scale up pretty quickly driven by what we see as huge demand globally for feed fats that can deliver more for less in terms of poultry, pig and dairy cattle productivity.”

Consumption of milk products is forecast to rise, particularly in emerging markets, and the JV recognizes the need for an efficient dairy industry and specifically the use of fat supplements to support that, said the Volac representative.

The UK firm said research indicates fat supplements facilitate formulation of higher energy density rations to increase milk production and fertility while minimizing health problems and methane emissions in dairy cattle.

Sustainability agenda

Richardson said the fat and oil products will be sourced under Wilmar’s ‘No deforestation, no peat and no exploitation’​ policy, which was introduced in 2013.

Both Volac and Wilmar are members of Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). “We are really pressing home the ethical sourcing agenda with this expanded JV on the basis that we believe responsibly obtained feed fats can play a critical role in ensuring a more sustainable global livestock production chain down the line,”​ he added. 

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