DSM has broken ground on its new premix production plant in Poland, which will be dedicated to the early life nutrition market.
The company held a ceremony at the site, already one of its most technically advanced for early life nutrition, involving special guests including Geraldine Matchett, DSM’s CFO; Irene Wosgien, vice-president global operations for DSM Human Nutrition & Health; Ronnie Pankhurst, director of premix operations for EMEA; and Jan Grabkowski, governor of Poznań County.
The factory in Buk was originally built five years ago by Fortitech, and subsumed into the DSM Group following its acquisition.
The Dutch-based company now says that the new plant will be the only dedicated premix production facility for the growing maternal and infant nutrition market.
Ronnie Pankhurst, who leads DSM’s premix operations in EMEA, told FoodBev: “What we’re doing here is we are building a brand new second facility on site, so it’s a separate facility, and the facility will be dedicated to the early life nutrition (ELN) segment. What we are effectively doing is using the people we have on site, and the expertise that we have on site, in order to turn this into a quick success.
“We see that our customers, both local and international customers that serve the ELN segment – their requirements and their ‘ask’ from us is increasing day by day. What we also see is that the regulations within this environment are also becoming more stringent and tougher to comply with, so what we are doing here is we are building a plant dedicated to this segment in order to then meet our customer requirements, as well as the tougher regulations that are being set.”
With demand for DSM’s premixes growing, Pankhurst joked that he hoped they could fill the new plant up as quickly as possible, but indicated that the investment in Buk was so well-prepared that it would be many years before DSM would need a third plant in Poland.
Irene Wosgien, vice-president global operations for DSM Human Nutrition & Health, echoed the sentiments about meeting both consumer and customer needs.
“We are incorporating advanced technology like a dry-cleaning technology, and other innovative equipment and technologies which enable us to be more efficient; but also for the workers, to be more productive and protect our employees – actually based on many years’ experience, but also in close cooperation with our customers,” she said.
During the ceremony, Wosgien praised the existing employees of its Buk plant, saying that their energy – along with the support of the local government – was one of the things that motivated the company to invest further in the site.
Wosgien said that nutrition was “an essential part of the strategy of DSM”, and pointed out that the first 1,000 days of an infant’s life are important for their healthy development.
About Buk, a town 20km west of Poznań that has undergone major industrial regeneration in recent years, she said: “This is a well-developed area: the infrastructure, the logistics companies here, but also an airport in the neighbourhood. It has been decided based also on having availability of highly educated people to invest here in this area, which has been quite successful; we have been growing and also making an important difference in this area, and based on this success and this development the growth that we were able to have in this area actually made our decision very easy to expand our asset footprint here.”
Poznań is a university city with different universities dedicated to life sciences, medical sciences and technology – as well as Adam Mickiewicz University, one of the largest universities in Poland.
DSM first announced its intention to expand the site in August, saying the new premix production facility would allow it double the output of its factory in Buk within the next two years.
The breaking ground ceremony was also attended by the mayor of Buk, the local governor, and all the staff from the existing facility.
DSM expects the new plant to be fully online by the end of next year.
Source: FoodBev.com – https://www.foodbev.com/news/dsm-breaks-ground-on-premix-production-plant-in-poland/