In a move designed to strengthen the company's presence in Asia's livestock industry, Novus International officially opened its new feed enzyme blending plant in Singapore on January 16, 2009. 

 

The new feed specialties plant will serve as a distribution hub for Novus's Asia Pacific clients in Asia's aquaculture, poultry, ruminant and swine sectors.

 

Thad Simons, Novus's president and CEO, said during his welcome speech that Novus has "been in Singapore for a very long time (since it started 19 years ago) and it's quite appropriate to see now that we have made a further investment and are really expanding our presence in Singapore and in Southeast Asia." He shares that the company is working hard for its vision which is "helping to feed the world with wholesome and affordable food and improving the quality of life."

 

Giovanni Gasperoni, Novus's executive vice president for marketing and sales, states that "This plant, and the growth that we demonstrated around the globe, is really so close to our hearts and relevant to our future. We are in different parts of the world witnessing an evolution of animal agriculture in different phases and that Asia will be the driver machine for the next decade." Gasperoni notes that every Novus plant, like this one in Singapore "empowers employees to support local and regional customers in a way that brings indisputable value to businesses." He further underscores the importance of creating long-term customer relationships.

 

Indeed with this new Singapore facility, Novus can now offer better accessibility to the Asia Pacific region. Plant manager Leow Tong Hoe says that, "We can export to any country because Singapore has a very good branding – we can export perhaps to Japan or Korea in the shortest time." 

 

However, even if the Asia Pacific region is, by virtue of geography, the Singapore plant's main priority, it can still export products elsewhere in the world. Simons points out that Novus, "responds to the needs of the region, yet we can have product from here going to anywhere in the world because it would be one of our important plants for our aqua line products."

 

As to the main goal of the plant for this year, Regional Director, Yiannis Christodoulou, says that "the goal we have for this facility this year is simple – that is (to bring) three technologies which we would like to be able to manufacture locally. We are starting with our enzyme technology or Cibenza DP100. Following that is our gut modifying technology or Activate DA. The third one is our organic trace mineral (Poultry TMO). These are the first three technologies we would like to start here."

 

Occupying a surface area of 4,000 square meters, the plant is comprised of a dedicated raw material warehouse, a two-level integrated manufacturing area and a one-stop distribution centre for the APEC region. The distribution warehouse commenced operations on August 1, 2009 while the manufacturing facility commenced output on January 1, 2010. In total, the facility boasts a production capacity of 600 metric tonnes per shift per year.

 

The first product the new facility will manufacture is Poultry TMO, followed closely by Activate DA and later, Cibenza DP100. To ensure precise product formulation and high quality, the raw material addition, liquid addition and blending processes are all PLC-controlled. In addition, the site is fully compliant with the relevant national regulatory agency, the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore. 

 

Novus's current products profile includes amino acids, chelated trace minerals, feed preservatives and various other nutrition and health products for the livestock, pet, human and industrial markets.

 

The plant opening was organised by eFeedLink Pte Ltd.