News Annual figures 2020
Feed group South recovers and realizes growth
Feed group South sold more feed and raw materials in 2020 than in 2019. The growth is mainly due to a larger customer base. A striking development, because sales fell in 2019 due to a declining customer base.
The compound feed producer supplied more than 2020 tons of feed and raw materials in 747.000. Compared to 2019, this is a growth of almost 10%. With this, the company is recovering after it had a less good year in 2019. At the time, turnover decreased by 5% and sales stagnated by around 7,5%. At the time, the decline was due to a large number of stoppages in the cattle and pig farming sector.
Farms have also stopped in 2020, but Voergroep Zuid has grown in the shrinking market. According to the cooperative, the growth was achieved due to little customer loss and a considerable number of new customers. Despite the corona crisis and the accompanying difficult circumstances, the feed factories performed well. Antoine van Loon, interim director of feed & raw materials at Voergroep Zuid, says: "Fortunately, our feed production could always continue and the demand for feed from our cooperative increased."
Remediation scheme
The compound feed producer had expected a decline in pig feed sales in the fourth quarter. This is because of the stoppage scheme. In retrospect, the opposite turned out to be true and the company actually saw growth. "Because the government needed more time to assess the remediation proposals, companies that were going to stop bought feed for longer," says Van Loon. The corona crisis and African swine fever in Germany also contributed to growth, as pigs ready for slaughter were kept longer at the end of 2020.
2021
With a view to the shrinking compound feed market, there are no easy years ahead, reports Van Loon. "Due to the restructuring scheme in pig farming and the necessary emission reduction requirements from the government, we will lose feed turnover in the coming year, something we are already preparing ourselves for."
Nevertheless, the interim director does not see a bleak future. "In terms of knowledge, production capacity and products, we are ready to serve more customers and to allow them to benefit from the advantages of Voergroep Zuid. In concrete terms, this means that we are putting our shoulders to the wheel to support our members and customers as best as possible in 2021 with the achieving a good operating result. Despite the fact that 2020 was a turbulent year with extremes, we are in good shape. We are ready for the future."
Chanti Oussoren
© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.
