Carbery Group Enters Whey Joint Venture With Brasil Foods S.A.

The venture, which involves a shared investment of $50 million, will deploy Carbery’s innovative technology to process whey generated at Brasil Food’s cheese-making operations in one of the foremost milk producing regions in Brazil.

7 Nov 2012 --- Carbery Group has announced the formation of a 50/50 joint venture with one of South America’s leading food companies, BRF Brasil Foods. The venture, which involves a shared investment of $50 million, will deploy Carbery’s innovative technology to process whey generated at Brasil Food’s cheese-making operations in one of the foremost milk producing regions in Brazil.

The new operation will house a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant to produce added value nutritional ingredients sourced from whey. The construction of the processing facility is planned to commence immediately and it will be commissioned in 2014.

BRF, which employs around 115,000 people and has an annual turnover of US$13.7 billion, is the second largest collector of milk in Brazil. Together with significant pork and poultry operations, the company has fourteen dairy processing sites in Brazil and another in Argentina and processes in excess of 1.6 billion litres of milk per annum. The company’s product portfolio includes cheese, UHT milks and fresh dairy products marketed under the Batavo and Elege brands.

In welcoming the joint venture, Dan MacSweeney, CEO of Carbery Group, said: “This joint venture with one of Brazil’s leading food companies further enhances our footprint in the vast South American agrifood business. Carbery’s ability to produce high quality whey protein ingredients locally will strengthen our offerings to the leading nutritional brands there, and ensure we are positioned for further growth in a dynamic and growing economic region.”

“Furthermore, by growing Carbery’s presence in emerging markets like this, we are adding value to our core business in Ballineen, Ireland, and our other international facilities, in a steady and planned way, while demonstrating an ability to compete and succeed in world markets, using world-class process technology. Our R&D capabilities here in Ireland are crucial to our offering, and we are confident of further growth and development opportunities into the future.” he concludes.

Jose Antonio Fay, CEO BRF commented: “There are many synergies between our two companies and we are delighted to partner with the Carbery Group on this joint venture initiative. Carbery is renowned for its service and technological capability, putting its customers at the centre of projects large and small, and offering world-class quality and innovation. We were also impressed with its proven success on an international scale, and look forward to working with the team.”

With a turnover of €257 million (2011), Carbery employs over 500 people globally (200 in Ireland) and is a leading player in the manufacture of whey-based ingredients internationally, brought about by significant investment in research and development, principally at its centre of excellence for nutrition in Ireland. The result of this long term R&D programme is the development of advanced dairy based nutritional ingredients which are supplied to many of the world’s leading food and drink companies. Major consumer brands in baby food, sports and performance nutrition, together with foods such as yoghurts and bakery products, contain Carbery proteins which are recognised globally for their high quality and efficacy.

Alongside Carbery’s reputation for high quality ingredients, it has made, and continues to make, significant investment in R&D which has boosted its ability to be a leading supplier to many premier international nutritional brands. Carbery continues to invest in research programmes, both in-house and through collaborations with Irish and international universities and research institutions to generate a pipeline of products, particularly for nutritional applications, over the coming years. The company’s reputation for innovation and quality were cited by BRF as important factors in its selection of a suitable partner for the whey processing venture.