Specialist Nutrition has agreed a five-year deal worth €135 million to supply by-products from a US ethanol plant as sustainable feed to farmers in New York.
The Waterford-based company, which is part of the Arvum Group, specialises in turning co-products produced by the distilling, brewing and bio-fuel industries into sustainable animal feed.
The deal was made with Attis Industries and will see Specialist Nutrition have a US base in Syracuse, New York. The company will market and distribute 500,000t of feed annually to dairy farms in the region.
Specialist nutrition will market the wet cake and syrup co-products from the plant. The agreement with Attis, according to the company, is “the first step in transforming the Fulton facility into the world’s premier GreenTech campus”.
“Our expansion into the US market has been achieved following two decades of strong collaboration with international food and beverage companies in Europe,” said Arvum Group CEO Roy Power.
“Our team have spent a year working with the team at Attis, stepping them through our process to the point where they are confident in signing a five-year deal that changes the sustainable nature of their business.
We will be providing a consistent supply of locally produced animal feed to New York state farmers and the plant will be lowering its carbon footprint and increasing efficiencies.
The move by Attis will reduce the processing time of distillers’ grains, save over €2.3 million in natural gas costs, lower the facility’s carbon footprint and will also increase operational performance by three to five days.
Most efficient ethanol plant in the world
“At Attis, we are working to transform this facility into the best, most efficient corn ethanol plant in the world, and this partnership allows us to add a key co-product diversification component to its operations,” said Attis Industries President Gregory Pilewiez.
“This agreement is the first step in the overall expansion of the Fulton plant into the premier GreenTech campus in the world,” he added.