CHINA – American agricultural cooperative, Land O’Lakes and Netherlands based Royal Agrifirm Group (Agrifirm) have announced a China joint venture focused on dairy nutrition.

The new animal feed joint venture will be operated as a new company, Agrilakes benefiting from existing market knowledge, insights, technologies and research capability from both Land O’Lakes and Agrifirm.

The new joint venture will initially be based in Agrifirm’s existing manufacturing plant in Tianjin, with plans to build a new dairy premix and specialty plant on the adjacent property.

It looks to provide world-class service to feed customers and dairy farmers in China where evolving dairy feed practices are driving demand for enhanced animal nutrition and productivity.

“With this new investment in China alongside Agrifirm, we are continuing Land O’Lakes’ successful international commercial growth strategy focused on partnering with locally successful companies and working together to drive market expansion,” said Jerry Kaminski, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Land O’Lakes.

“Thanks to Agrifirm’s established infrastructure and reputation in China, paired with Land O’Lakes’ strong research and technology expertise, we are confident this new joint venture is well-positioned to help grow both companies.”

The companies have identified China as a promising marketplace with growth expected to be driven by increased sophistication and production efficiency.

The partnership builds on the companies’ capabilities in China.

Land O’Lakes operates subsidiary businesses Purina Animal Nutrition and WinField® United and a training facility, Dairy Farming Institute through a partnership with Nestle.

Agrifirm operates a wholly owned subsidiary, Nuscience and has been in China under the brand LVSAI for 20 years.

It also owns two animal nutrition and premix plants and a business unit that sells feed ingredients and multi-species feed additives.

“With more than 20 years of market experience in China, this joint venture with Land O’Lakes positions Agrifirm to further implement its growth strategy and continue developing a reliable, responsible food chain for future generations in China,” said Dick Hordijk, Chief Executive Officer of Agrifirm.

“Agrifirm is proud to bring more than 100 years of experience in the feed and dairy business, and deep experience in China, to this new joint venture.

“We look forward to leveraging the knowledge, experience and products of both Agrifirm and Land O’Lakes to strengthen our China market presence and help China’s dairy farmers on the road to success.”

Formation of the joint venture is subject to antitrust and regulatory approvals.