9 October 2020 – FRAmelco BV, a family-owned and Netherlands-headquartered company, specialised in the development, manufacturing, and marketing of glycerides and lysolecithins, is looking forward to future commercial opportunities under new ownership by Adisseo as well as any new synergies that will be born out of that partnership.
Paulus Verboeket, Commercial Director at FRAmelco, recently spoke to us about the potential glycerides and lysolecithins hold in animal nutrition and why partnering with Adisseo will take these technologies to a whole new dimension.
Founded in 2007, FRAmelco is a relatively young and small company (approximately 75 employees; gross sales of about EUR 30 million per year) with a stronghold in Europe from an organisational point-of-view. The synthesis of its main raw materials - esterification of fatty acids and the hydrolysis of lecithins - is done in Spain, close to Zaragoza and the mixing and blending itself takes place in the Netherlands, close to Breda.
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Earlier this year, FRAmelco also announced that it had set-up its first production location outside Europe, in Thailand. This new facility is now fully operational and started without any problems despite COVID-19. The factory is now in start-up phase to manufacture FRAmelco’s product range and production there will be gradually enlarged. In 2008, FRAmelco introduced different types of glycerides to the feed industry worldwide, of which monoglycerides are an important part. “For a long time, esterification in the food industry was used to create functional fatty acids glycerides. FRAmelco was among the first to introduce these glycerides into the animal nutrition market,” Verboeket explained. “Esterification is a reaction with natural ingredients and it is therefore of high importance to manage the production process very well.” |
Paulus Verboeket |
“From 2008 onwards, FRAmelco was able to upscale production, increase quality parameters and develop the market commercially at the same time. Nowadays we are able to produce glycerides from short chain fatty acids like formic acid up to the medium chain fatty acids like myristic acid and everything in between,” he added.
According to Verboeket, glycerides have many benefits and the main direct benefit FRAmelco focuses on is pathogen control.
“Based on the type of glyceride we target to control specific bacteria and fat enveloped viruses. The second group of benefits are there to support the animal’s own body defense, by supporting their immune system and reducing the effects of inflammation. Furthermore, glycerides have a third benefit to support intestinal health. These three benefits will strengthen the overall health status of the animal and will support them to overcome disease effects and lower the need for medicines,” he said.
“We have seen in practice, the use of glycerides has a positive effect on the animal’s defense systems. We also have conducted several experimental trials to investigate the effects of glycerides on specific viruses, with positive results,” Verboeket added.
“Glycerides can be a part of the solution to combat viruses in general, due to the above mentioned benefits. By using our specific glycerides we can support the animal to be more resistant to pathogens in general.”
In 2014, FRAmelco then introduced lysolecithin fat emulsifiers, which have the benefit of increasing nutrient efficiency.
Verboeket explained: “This is an important issue for all companies active in animal production. Lysolecithins, which are hydrolyses lecithins, have been on the market for already some time. We have established a high quality product named FRA® LeciMax.”
In May of this year, FRAmelco tripled lysolecithin production capacity in Spain.
“Due to the sales growth, we continuously enlarge production capacity. To be ready for the next growth wave we decided to further upscale our production,” he added. “And looking back closer at the last six years, we can say that we have established ourselves as a main world player in this segment,” he added.
But be it glycerides and lysolecithins technologies, FRAmelco’s Commercial Director believes that his firm has established a solid market share and the prospects are good as the market for feed additives with a positive effect on health and performance is growing and expected to grow also in the next decades.
In fact, for Verboeket, FRAmelco’s outstanding market positions in both glycerides and lysolecithins, were the main reasons why Adisseo was initially interested in his company.
Regarding the merger, although it is still early days, he said that both parties are now investigating in more detail the synergies that were detected during the acquisition process.
“The first feeling is that Adisseo’s product teams have great trust that our technologies will bring in a new era for our combined specialty feed additive portfolio. Our technologies together with the global infrastructure and market service of Adisseo will bring us to the next level,” Verboeket commented.
Published in association with FRAmelco