Waterford-based Specialist Nutrition has secured a five-year deal worth €135m to supply by-products from a US ethanol plant as sustainable feed to farmers in New York.
Part of the Arvum Group, Specialist Nutrition is a leading international expert in turning co-products produced by the distilling, brewing and biofuel industries into sustainable animal feed.
The deal with Attis Industries sees the company establish a US base in Syracuse, New York, to market and distribute 500,000 tonnes of feed annually into the state’s dairy farming sector from a nearby corn ethanol plant in Fulton.
Attis sees the agreement to market the wet cake and syrup co-product streams into speciality feed applications as the first step in transforming the Fulton facility into the world’s premier GreenTech campus.
Tracing its origins back to 1859, the Arvum Group comprises a number of agri businesses, renowned for innovation in seed and animal feed.
Its co-product business, developed through working with some of the industry’s biggest names, is highly sustainable for manufacturers as it removes the costly drying at the end of the distilling process and reduces the carbon footprint.
“Our expansion into the US market has been achieved following two decades of strong collaboration with international food and beverage companies in Europe,” said Arvum Group CEO Roy Power.
“Our team have spent a year working with the team at Attis, stepping them through our process to the point where they are confident in signing a five-year deal that changes the sustainable nature of their business.
“We will be providing a consistent supply of locally-produced animal feed to New York state farmers and the plant will be lowering its carbon footprint and increasing efficiencies.”
Attis Industries say that the new product offering significantly improves efficiency while reducing the processing time of distillers’ grains, saving over €2.3 million in annual natural gas costs.
It also lowers the facility’s carbon footprint and increases operational performance by three to five days.
“At Attis, we are working to transform this facility into the best, most efficient corn ethanol plant in the world, and this partnership allows us to add a key co-product diversification component to its operations,” said Attis Industries President Gregory Pilewiez.
“This Agreement is the first step in the overall expansion of the Fulton plant into the premier GreenTech campus in the world.”
