Agrocorp International, a Singapore-based global agricultural commodities company, and Japan-based diary firm Megmilk Snow plan to establish a joint venture to manufacture and market plant-based food ingredients.
This partnership, to be named Agro Snow will establish a joint-venture company in Singapore and a wholly-owned subsidiary in Malaysia where a plant will be set up to manufacture plant protein and starch isolates to meet the rising demand for plant-based foods and beverages. AgroCorp will have a 51% ownership interest in the JV, and Megmilk will hold 49%. The initial capital stock is valued at US$21 million.
Agrocorp has been looking to further expand its downstream business capacity in plant protein extraction, following its first facility in Saskatchewan, Canada, while Megmilk has identified entry in the plant-based food business as part of its growth strategy, the companies said in their May 15 announcement.
“We are excited to partner with Megmilk Snow Brand, one of the largest dairy companies in Japan, to further our capabilities downstream in the plant protein extraction business,” said Vishal Vijay, director of Strategic Investments, Agrocorp International. “This is our second major investment in protein extraction after our first facility in Saskatchewan, Canada, and we hope to be able to service the growing demand in Asia for plant-based food.”
Agrocorp specializes in the sale of staple food products such as wheat, pulses, and sugar to the leading food manufacturers in the Asia Pacific and the Middle East. The firm is one of the leading traders of pulses in the world and has pulses processing facilities in Australia, Canada, and the United States.
Megmilk, based in Tokyo, traces its involvement in Japan’s dairy farming industry back more than 90 years. In 2011, Snow Brand Milk Products Co., Ltd. and Nippon Milk Community Co., Ltd. merged to develop a business centered on milk and dairy products.