Kemin Industries Forms Alliance With AVT Natural Products
Des Moines, IA - Kemin Industries, Inc. has announced a strategic alliance with AVT Natural Products Limited (AVT NPL), a member of the A.V. Thomas (AVT) group of companies. Marigolds are the primary raw materials for the manufacture of lutein, a growing nutritional ingredient used in animal and human health products. Kemin Industries, a U.S. based nutritional ingredient manufacturer, is a premier manufacturer and marketer of lutein. AVT manages the world's largest marigold contract farming operation in southern and western India.
In January, 2000 Kemin Industries began purchasing raw materials from AVT to meet surges in market demand for lutein. Since then the two companies conducted business based on one-year contracts negotiated at the beginning of each crop season. The five-year strategic alliance signed by Kemin Industries and AVT NPL signals the next step in the continuing development of a successful business relationship between the two companies, moving from a supplier/customer platform to a strategic alliance base.
India and AVT NPL will be the key strategic supplierof marigolds for Kemin. Kemin and AVT NPL will work together in preparing other countries to be reliable sources of marigolds in the global ingredient market. Plans are in development to evaluate other pigments for the food and feed industries. The new business alliance is expected to heighten the global presence of both companies in the marigold feed and food markets.
"I believe this alliance will deliver greater long-term assurance to the customer for lutein quality, safety and reliability," said Dr. Christopher Nelson, Kemin president. "It will leverage Kemin Industries' expertise in the research and development of nutraceutical products and AVT's core competencies in agri-business, including managed logistics of flower growing and collection and Good Manufacturing Practices and food safety based extraction."
"The alliance with AVT is key to meeting Kemin Industries' goal of becoming the number one provider of pigment products to the global feed and food market," said Sergio Barragan, worldwide pigment coordinator at Kemin.
Mr. Ajit Thomas, chairman of AVT NPL, concurs. Referring to AVT's decade-long history in the marigold business, Thomas stated, "With a technically strong team, excellent marigold seed stock and proven expertise in agribusiness, AVT will synergize well with Kemin to provide optimum innovation and quality to customers."
Mr. M.S.A. Kumar, AVT NPL managing director, added that "AVT NPL has a diversified growing base in different agro climatic zones for the marigold flowers. With plans to expand to other countries for growing, post-harvest processing and extraction, reliability of supplies and cost-effective products will be the key aspects of this strategic alliance."
The AVT group was established in 1925 and is a leading agribusiness organization in South India. The group comprises various strategic business units in the fields of plantations, leather, diagnostics, retail and ingredients for the for the food and feed industries. AVT NPL is a global leader in the marigold business located in Cochin, in southwestern India. It is a public limited company listed in stock exchanges of Mumbai and Chennai in India.
Kemin Industries, Inc. is a privately-owned nutritional ingredient manufacturer headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa (USA). Ingredient experts in animal feed, human dietary supplements and food products and pet foods, Kemin Industries develops customer-specific nutritional solutions.
Serving a customer base that impacts 80 percent of the global food production capability, the Kemin family of companies strives to touch the lives of half the people in the world everyday through its products and services. With nearly 800 employees worldwide, the organization operates in over 80 countries, with manufacturing facilities in Belgium, Brazil, China, India, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and the United States.
Source: Kemin Industries