PHW Group: enters the food ingredients market

Visbek / DE. (phw) The PHW Group has been systematically building strong networks and expertise in the areas of biotechnology and food technology since the establishment of the «Alternative Protein Sources» business area in 2018. The focus is now on expanding a competitive, cross-value chain infrastructure analogous and complementary to the core poultry business. «In perspective, we want to transfer our successful vertical integration model from the poultry sector to the alternative protein sources business area,» explains Marcus Keitzer, board member for alternative protein sources at PHW Group.

As part of this, the PHW Group is entering the food ingredients market as a majority shareholder by founding VTEC Ingredients GmbH. For this step, Dr. Markus Veen could be won as co-partner and future managing director. Dr. Markus Veen holds a doctorate in biotechnology, has already been successfully active in the ingredients sector for many years with his group of companies, and brings with him the necessary technical expertise for this step. The new company will be based in Engelsberg, Bavaria. «As experienced, creative and innovative experts in the field of texturization, flavor and food quality, we are very pleased about the foundation of VTEC Ingredients GmbH and the close cooperation within the PHW Group. With this step, we are expanding our innovation process and combining a foundation of raw materials, formulations and process technologies with highly efficient food processing and optimally networked supply chains to retailers,» explains Dr. Markus Veen.

«Through the new partnership, we are now systematically networking our existing PHW infrastructure with upstream value chain stages. VTEC Ingredients GmbH will focus on purchasing, biotechnological processing and manufacturing of raw and auxiliary materials for the production of plant-based sausage, meat and fish substitute products. On the one hand, the new company will be closely interlinked with the existing product development departments of the PHW Group, so that the existing product range can be continuously improved and further innovative products added in the future. Secondly, the existing PHW production plants for sausage, meat and fish substitute products can now be partially supplied by the new sister company. It is also planned to exploit synergy potential for the production of intermediate products for the Poultry Business Unit. As a result, we will be able to respond to and implement customer requirements even faster and more competently with immediate effect. Through this partnership, we are once again demonstrating that we are consistently following our corporate credo of ‘growth through diversity and vision’ and are implementing the growth of our poultry and alternative protein sources business areas in a complementary manner,» adds Marcus Keitzer.

The core business of the PHW Group, headquartered in Rechterfeld (Lower Saxony), is the production and marketing of high-quality poultry specialties under the Wiesenhof brand. In 2018, the additional business field of alternative protein sources was created. Within this framework, the PHW Group has entered into various strategic partnerships. In the long term, the family-owned company from Lower Saxony wants to position itself as a supplier of high-quality protein products and develop supposedly competing business areas side by side. In addition to these two business areas, there is also the health business area. The PHW Group, which consists of more than 45 subsidiaries, employs around 10,580 people across Europe and generated total sales of 3.315 billion euros in the 2021/2022 financial year.