News
Press release, Friday 15th April 2005
Meat Business Europe B.V. buys slaughterhouse from Danish Crown
THE DUTCH COMPANY MEAT BUSINESS EUROPE, FOUNDED BY FORMER DUMECO DIRECTOR FRANS STORTELDER, HAS REACHED AGREEMENT WITH DANISH CROWN ON THE TAKEOVER OF A SLAUGHTERHOUSE IN STRUER (JUTLAND) IN DENMARK. THE FACILITY HAS A PROCESSING CAPACITY OF 14,000 PIGS A WEEK. PRODUCTION IS EXPECTED TO START IN SEPTEMBER 2005.
Danish Crown, established in Denmark, is Europe?s largest meat processor with an annual turnover of nearly EUR 6 billion. In 2001, Danish Crown merged with Steff-Houlberg. The Danish Competition Authorities approved this merger on the condition that Danish Crown would sell one of its existing slaughterhouses. The facility in Struer, the sale of which as now been agreed with Meat Business Europe, has a processing capacity of 14,000 pigs a week. The due diligence investigation is being started and it is expected that production will commence during the summer or at the latest in September.
Meat Business Europe was founded by Frans Stortelder, former director of Dumeco and SturkoMeat. The ambition of Meat Business Europe is to become a specialised supplier of leading retailers, meat product factories and meat wholesalers in Europe. Moreover, Meat Business Europe intends to realise a significant share of its turnover in the Asian markets of Japan and Korea.
The pig meat industry in northern Europe has become increasingly concentrated in recent years. The large players are using economies of scale and lower production costs to maintain their international competitive position.
Meat Business Europe has adopted a policy aimed at creating added value. ?The customer?s wishes are my primary concern?, says Frans Stortelder. ?Added value in business-to-business relationships means creating solutions for your customers? bottlenecks. Sometimes that involves delivering large volumes, but often it calls for made-to-measure service?. Meat Business Europe wants to focus on the latter customer group, explains Stortelder.
Denmark is an excellent operating base for that purpose. Danish pig meat is known worldwide for its good quality, which explains why Denmark is the largest supplier of pig meat to Japan. Danish pig farming, furthermore, is characterised by a highly developed integrated production chain.
For further information, contact:
Meat Business Europe B.V.
Danish Crown A.m.b.A.
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