French animal nutrition and health specialist Nor-Feed is observing a rapidly rising demand for its flagship ingredient, Norponin Opti, and plans to invest in expanding its factory’s production capacities to support its increasing export sales.
Olga Noel, a manager at Nor-Feed and the company’s U.K. sales representative, told Petfoodindustry.com that the business focuses on supplying its products to pet food producers across Europe. “We’ve seen an increased demand for our saponin-based solution, Norponin Opti,” she said. “It’s due to the heterogeneity of the yucca-based products available on the market, the saponin content and quality of which vary highly.”
The French supplier was “able to develop an alternative to yucca of good quality that doesn’t require a label change for our customers who can still refer to yucca on their packaging,” Noel explained.
Norponin Opti is Nor-Feed’s flagship product, a yucca-based pet food ingredient.Courtesy Nor-Feed
Citrus extract to support pets’ digestive function
Another of the company’s increasingly popular products is Nor-Spice AB, a citrus extract that contributes to the digestive tract function. “Nor-Spice AB is standardized in citroflavonoids and stimulates Lactobacilli growth by providing pectic-oligosaccharides,” Noel said, adding that these are the most active oligosaccharides with more possibilities among prebiotics as they have a wider action compared to other sources of oligosaccharides.
Due to Nor-Spice AB’s extracts improving the digestive tract function, a benefit becoming more important to pet owners, its sales continue to rise, according to Noel.
Planned investments in manufacturing capabilities
Meanwhile, as a result of the company’s increasing export sales, Nor-Feed plans to expand its factory in Anjou, in western France, which has capacity to produce about 50 million tons of products per year.
“An expansion is on the agenda, as we are ahead of the initial business plan by close to two years,” Noel said. “We are present in most European countries and supply several pet food producers. We make over 80% of our turnover abroad. Our goal is to continue to serve our pet food producing partners with the most documented and standardized botanicals.”
In 2021, Nor-Feed launched its current plant, fitted with a surface of about 2,500 square meters (26,900 square feet). At that time, the investment provided Nor-Feed with the capacities to increase its manufacturing capacities fourfold, enabling the business to meet the growing market demand for botanical products.
