Plukon Food Group has started the year by broadening both its geographical base and its product portfolio.
Already the top poultry meat company in the Netherlands, Plukon Food Group has poultry meat operations in Belgium, Germany, France, and Poland. It is now to add the Spanish market through its acquisition of Grupo de Gestion Empresarial Avicola VMR, S.L. (Grupo VMR).
Plukon aims to become the leading player in the production and marketing of poultry meat in Europe, according to the firm’s chief executive Peter Poortinga.
“With the addition of Spain as a sixth home country, Plukon has created a production and sales area in Europe with over 260 million consumers, or almost 60% EU residents after Brexit,” he said.
Based in Madrid, Grupo VMR is a fully integrated poultry producer. It has its own poultry production chain, including a slaughterhouse, meat processing facility, and feed mill. Through its own distribution channels, VMR markets its Gallus Gallus brand of premium poultry products to the local retail, wholesale and food service markets. It has around 550 employees in Madrid and Caceres, and generates turnover of around EUR100 million (US$108 million).
In Portugal, Grupo VMR has established a joint venture with Grupo Valouro for pedigree poultry breeding, and the production of day-old chicks.
Plukon invests in Dutch vegetable supply chain
Earlier in January, Plukon Food Group agreed to acquire a 51% share in Fresh Care Convenience Group B.V. (FCC). Headquartered in Dronten in the Netherlands, FCC specializes in vegetable processing. The new partnership will facilitate Plukon to achieve its objectives to invest and build its expertise in the vegetable supply chain. The firm intends to acquire the remaining 49% of the shares within three years.
An agreement was reached in principle on the new partnership with the Staay Food Group, which is based in Papendrecht. The deal is subject to approval by the competition authorities.
For some time, there has been a solid relationship between the two firms. Following a fire at Plukon’s processing plant in Wezep in 2017, Staay helped the poultry company to continue to supply its customers.
More on Plukon Food Group
According to the rankings of Europe’s top poultry meat companies from Poultry International, Plukon Food Group is the continent’s second largest broiler producer. With its businesses in Germany, Belgium, France and Poland as well as the Netherlands, the firm slaughters more than 426 million birds per year. At its 16 production sites — including five in the Netherlands — it has a workforce of more than 5,500. Last year, the company generated turnover of EUR1.8 billion (US$1.95 billion), and is aiming to raise this figure to EUR2 billion in 2020.
In 2017, Plukon received official authorization to widen its business interests. The firm acquired a majority interest in the Wyrebski poultry business in Poland, and took over Duc of France.