Calf integrations withstand the first corona year well

The VanDrie Group saw turnover fall by around €80 million to €2.317 million, while profit fell by €4 million to €75 million. Denkavit International managed to increase turnover by €19 million to €640 million and limit losses from -€8,4 million to -€1,9 million. 

The difficult year in terms of veal sales forced both companies to keep a close eye on costs and to keep veal production very tightly under control, because the price of meat plummeted and stocks increased. Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality Carola Schouten also refused to help veal farmers and contract providers who had to cope with the sudden disruption of the production chain. The VanDrie Group did receive several million in NOW support (the temporary Emergency Bridging Employment Measure) to help deal with disruptions in the meat companies.

Diversification towards dairy
For the rest, both integrations worked hard to diversify, both also towards dairy. The VanDrie Group focused more on its own powder factories (in the Netherlands, Germany and Italy) and on the dairy trading company Melkweg. Denkavit International was able to give a strong boost to sales of young animal feed outside Europe in particular. The acquisition of an American company in 2019 may have helped. In May 2021, Denkavit also acquired Nutrifeed, the animal feed division of FrieslandCampina, for an amount of just €30 million. However, this will be further accounted for in the 2021 annual accounts.

Strong equity as a disaster buffer
The VanDrie Group used the 2020 profit to further strengthen its equity to €885 million. This was not possible at Denkavit because a slight loss was still incurred in 2020. As a result, shareholders' equity fell from €213 million to €210 million. Veal integration companies traditionally maintain a strong financial buffer, especially in view of animal diseases or other major market disruptions.