Innovad initiated major investments in our facilities just 4 months after the acquisition by IK Investment Partners. With the planned investments Innovad is setting the stage to become your global partner in gut health, immunity and mycotoxin management solutions based on natural ingredients, to the next level.
Apart from acquiring a majority stake in Innovad, private equity firm IK Investment Partners also acquired AddCo Nutrition, producing state-of-the-art natural carotenoids at their fully automated production facility in Italy, and AddEssens in Belgium, which specialises in the extraction of high-quality molecules from plant- and fruit-based ingredients. The platform from which we can grow our substantial expertise further into providing effective natural solutions for economically important real world animal production issues is in place.
Already having proven that we can provide solutions for managing mycotoxins via the Escent® brand, Innovad have shown that we can create even more value to the field by disrupting the way the industry is looking at mycotoxins. Indeed, our blood spot analytics service MycoMarker® is already changing the way we used to look at animal exposure to mycotoxins, especially emerging mycotoxins.
Not content to only to provide added value in the world of mycotoxin management, a strong R&D effort in chronic gut inflammation is starting to yield new insights for us, but more importantly meaningful results to the producer. Through the development of a novel in-vivo model to measure chronic, low grade intestinal inflammation, Innovad’s own science is making waves in academia. This is also opening opportunities to identify biomarkers to measure chronic gut inflammation in the future and strengthen our Lumance® range of products.
Our unique access to high quality natural ingredients, especially antioxidants and anti-inflammatory molecules through the sister companies in the group, it is natural for us to build on our platform to strengthen health and immunity. Recognising that fighting disease and stress costs on performance and already providing a specific solution for Streptococcus suis management via our Cerebra® S Technology, we will continue to build on strengthening the animal’s innate ability to withstand disease pressure and stress.
Product solution development and growth need to be matched with a production platform that will provide a secure supply for our customers. To do that we at Innovad recognize the importance of providing a healthy and best-in-class working environment for our production staff ready to match our strong growth ambitions.
The investment plan in the production facilities in Essen and Lokeren (Belgium) has taken us one step closer to being acknowledged as a reference employer in the area and cemented our commitment to improve the overall safety and well-being of the staff in the factory. Noise reduction and dust reduction in the production area are only 2 examples of improvement programs that will be implemented on short term. Special attention will also be paid to some ergonomic improvements for the manual handling of our end-products. All of which help us attract the right talent to help us reach our ambitions.
Tina Rogge, Technical & Production Director, adds: “We especially want to thank our blue-collar staff for standing strong during the difficult Covid period; They have been tough and available in one of the most challenging global crises. We don’t just do this by saying “thank you”, but we will foresee an overall predefined salary increase for the blue-collar staff in the coming 2 years.”
Implementation has started and the changes are expected all to be fully operational by the end of 2021. The investment plan and recent growth of Innovad Group fits their ambitions in becoming a global leader in the market for sophisticated animal health products. The Innovad Group now includes 6 different companies. The group expects a second round of investments to be decided by Q3, that will change the production process flow, by rationalizing, focusing, adding agility and responsiveness for our customers.