Britain’s largest animal feed manufacturer BOCM Pauls will rebrand its UK operations to ForFarmers following its takeover by a Dutch farmers’ co-operative in 2012.
The company, which sells and manufactures more than two million tonnes of compounds, blends and co-products for livestock, has seven compound feed mills and six blend plants across the UK, including operations at Turriff, Motherwell and near Annan.
It was bought by ForFarmers Group, which is majority owned by farmers in the Netherlands, for £71m.
The business will now undergo a rebranding with all operations operating under the ForFarmers branding.
At a press conference in Edinburgh yesterday, the firm’s corporate affairs director Nick Major said there would be very little change for UK farmers.
“Farmers will orderfrom the same people, get the same products and see the same lorry driver,” he said.
He added that the one change would be thecompany’s access to shared research and development and work with the wider ForFarmers Group.
Since joining the group in 2012, the business has bought three other UK feed companies Suffolk minerals company Dairy Direct, Crewe ruminant and poultry compound feed firm HST Feeds Ltd, and Nottingham liquidco-products firm Wheyfeed Ltd.
Mr Major said further consolidation in the European animal feed sector was likely with ForFarmers likely to acquire more businesses in the UK.
Chief operating officer with responsibility for the UK business, IainGardner, said: “The changes in our own business mirror those of UK agriculture, which continues to consolidate as producers experience greater pressure on returns.
“As a consequence, they themselves are becoming ever larger, more committed to their specialist sector and increasingly professional.
“Because of this they appreciate the benefits of dealing with suppliers who, like us, continually evolve and adapt to their changing market conditions by becoming more efficient, remain at the technical cutting edge of their industry sector and have a consistent brand.”