September 12, 2011
JBS United and DeKalb Feeds forms joint venture
JBS United and DeKalb Feeds have formed a joint venture involving Dekalb''s Frytown, Iowa mill facility.
The new venture is called Central Nutrition Services (CNS). CNS will focus on manufacturing superior quality livestock feeds and nutritional supplements for both JBS United and DeKalb Feeds and their customers throughout the Midwest.
The announcement was made by Doug Webel, Chief Operating Officer of JBS United''s Nutrition and Emerging Technologies, and Kelly Keaschall, President of DeKalb Feeds, Inc.
DeKalb Feeds acquired the existing Frytown, IA mill facility in September 1996, which included its trucks, employees, and field staff, as well as its customers. DeKalb closed its Onslow, IA mill at that time and transferred its production to the Frytown facility. However, even with this additional production, it has never been fully utilised. Thus, the formation of CNS is a creative and proactive solution for DeKalb to better utilise their capacity and for both companies (JBS United and DeKalb) to meet their customers'' needs more efficiently.
Webel stated, "By combining the production needs of both DeKalb and JBS United, this mill can be operated more efficiently and cost-effectively."
Keaschall said, "The Frytown facility also offers tremendous flexibility to produce a variety of feeds very economically, which will help us expand on the current list of customers we serve."
This facility also includes a very large warehouse space and a lot of office space, which will easily allow the company to grow and accommodate more production. The mill''s central location is also expected to allow JBS United to react to customer needs more effectively and efficiently.
As part of Central Nutrition Services'' commitment to excellent service and customer profitability, the company has voluntarily adopted the Safe Feed / Safe Food standard. Safe Feed / Safe Food certification is a nationally recognised quality standard created by the American Feed Industry Association which establishes comprehensive measures of excellence that go beyond existing regulations to maximise feed and food safety.