Paris | Reuters — Agricultural commodity merchant Louis Dreyfus Co. (LDC) has created a food and feed solutions business line as part of efforts to diversify its activities in step with consumer trends, the company said on Tuesday.
The new unit will focus on developing LDC’s presence in the lecithin, glycerine and specialty feed protein areas, it said in a statement, adding it was well placed to scale up in the nature-based ingredients market, including via targeted acquisitions.
Chief commercial officer James Zhou will lead the new business, LDC said.
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To Darcy Haley, vice-president of Ag Value Brokers in Lethbridge, there are two main reasons for recent increases for feed barley and wheat. Haley said on March 12 that there’s an ongoing lack of farmer selling, plus stiff competition from the grain companies looking to export barley.
“We expect the new Food and Feed Solutions Platform to become a solid base for the execution of LDC’s strategy to diversify revenue streams by transforming or upcycling agri-commodity by-products into value-added products and solutions,” Zhou said in the statement.
The group will draw on its existing portfolio in the processing of oilseeds, oils and fats, he added.
The push into specialized ingredients by international merchants was encouraged by shrinking margins in the past decade for selling and shipping crops, although profits have rebounded as the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have fuelled market volatility.
— Reporting for Reuters by Gus Trompiz and Sudip Kar-Gupta.
