Evonik announced that it will begin working with Perdue AgriBusiness to market its probiotic GutCare, which supports a more balanced intestinal microbial population in the gut of poultry species and other monogastric animals, according to the announcement.

Perdue AgriBusiness sources, merchandises and processes agricultural commodities for food and other uses.

The agreement for the U.S. market starts a close technical cooperation between the two companies, and commercial activities are expected to begin immediately, Evonik said.

“This cooperative relationship will allow us to leverage the expertise of both companies to bring higher-value offerings to our customers,” said Ken O’Halloran, vice president North America at Evonik.

Perdue AgriBusiness vice president George Betton added, “Our goal is to help customers prosper with flexible, forward-thinking solutions for agriculture-based products. We are excited to be working with Evonik to provide the best solutions for our customers.”

Evonik is among the global leaders in specialty chemicals and is active in more than 100 countries. The focus on more specialty businesses, customer-oriented, innovative prowess and a trustworthy and performance-oriented corporate culture form the heart of Evonik’s corporate strategy. In fiscal 2018, the enterprise generated sales of 13.3 billion euros and an operating profit of 2.15 billion euros from continuing operations.

The company's Nutrition & Care segment is led by Evonik Nutrition & Care GmbH and contributes to fulfilling basic human needs. That includes applications for everyday consumer goods as well as animal nutrition and health care. This segment had about 8,200 employees and generated sales of around 4.6 billion euros in 2018.

Perdue AgriBusiness, part of Perdue Farms, is an international agricultural products and services company. It sources, merchandises and processes agricultural commodities, including grains, oilseeds, soybean meal, blended feed ingredients and seed oils for food and other uses. In addition, Perdue AgriBusiness provides a full range of farm inputs, including seeds and fertilizers and services from agronomy to risk management and merchandising.