ForFarmers ceasing ruminant and horse feed production at Helmond facility
The transfer will take effect from Q4 2019.
Helmond's production of horse feed (PAVO) will be taken over by the Almelo mill, while the ruminant feed production will be split between both the Deventer and Rees mills. In addition, part of the Helmond production will be transferred to a third party under a toll milling agreement, said the Dutch group.
ForFarmers said it is currently expanding capacity of the mill in Almelo to enable the facility to take on the equine feed production. Capacity of the mill in Rees is also being enhanced and it said investments have been made in a new bulk loading system to allow for more flexibility at that plant.
No decision has been taken as to how the mill in Helmond will be used in the future, but ForFarmers said it could be adapted to produce high value products, such as non-GMO feeds for ruminants. The company is exploring options to find other jobs for the 31 people employed at that facility.
In terms of additional restructuring in the Netherlands, ForFarmers announced, on May 15, that it would transfer the production activities of Van Gorp Biologische Voeders, which currently take place in Schalkwijk, to the manufacturing facility of Reudink in Lochem.
Reudink, an entity within the ForFarmers group and active in organic feed, acquired Van Gorp Bio in October last year.
The transfer means all activities at the Schalkwijk site would discontinue, and the company said it was also looking to relocate those employees.
UK mill closure
Also, in February this year, ForFarmers announced it was closing a feed mill in the UK, its site in Blandford, Dorset, in the second quarter of 2019, with the loss of 30 jobs.
Meanwhile, ForFarmers still continues on the asset building front in the UK in parallel with the rationalization objectives. Last month saw the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) approve its purchase of the business and certain assets of Bowerings Animal Feeds, located in Somerset.
