September 15, 2005

Alltech unveils world's largest yeast facility

Alltech has put its "Thinking globally, acting locally" mantra into practice again by entering into a joint venture with a sugar plant company, Vale do Ivai, Parana, Brazil. A total of US$25 million would be invested resulting in a state-of-the-art facility, with the largest yeast production in the world.

A growing demand for Alltech's natural products instigated the partnership, since production at Alltech's yeast facility in Serbia was already operating at full capacity. The fully automated, high-tech plant in Brazil is capable of providing four times the production capacity of the Serbian plant. According to Dr. Pearse Lyons, President of Alltech, "Yeast products made at Alltech's production muscle will begin rolling off the line in September. As a result, Alltech Brazil will become the biggest biotechnology producer and exporter in the area".

Dr. Lyons further explained that, "This facility is the world's largest yeast factory, with the capacity to produce up to 50,000 tonnes of yeast a year with investment in the plant totalling US$40 million by 2007. The plant, surrounded by sugar cane plantations, was designed to use almost 100 percent of renewable raw materials, which would be sourced locally. Sugar cane would be the primary source for fermentation and the manufacturing of Alltech's natural products. This would not only enable Alltech to better serve the fast-growing markets of Latin America, but also export to its 85 markets worldwide.

Once running at full capacity, the facility would produce 50,000 tonnes of Bio-Mos^®, Mycosorb^®, Nupro^® and Sel-Plex^®. Future expansion would translate to more than 100,000 tonnes of product.

2005 marks Alltech's 25th year in the food and feed business.  In the span of those 25 years, Alltech's presence has grown into a multinational company with offices and distributors in 85 countries, and more than 1,500 employees around the world.  Alltech operates 14 production facilities including one in India and one in China. Significant further expansion is planned in the future for the Asian market.
 

Website: www.alltech.com