Royal De Heus recently announced that it is acquiring Brazilian cattle nutrition company Cerrado Nutrição Animal.

Cerrado produces a complete range of high-quality dairy and beef products such as complete feeds, concentrates, nucleus, mineral supplements and mineral protein supplements. With a manufacturing capacity of 50,000 metric tons per year, Cerrado has a strong regional position, especially in the beef cattle market in the Brazilian midwest.

“Both De Heus and Cerrado Nutrição Animal perform well in the challenging Brazilian animal nutrition market. Therefore, this acquisition allows us to contribute to the growth and professionalization of existing and new customers, especially in the midwest region,” said Rinus Donkers, director of De Heus Brazil & Latin America. “By combining forces, we make the international knowledge and experience of De Heus accessible to livestock farmers in this region. The acquisition also aligns with the strategy of De Heus Brazil to produce its ruminant products as close to its customers as possible and increase synergy in the supply chain.”

Cerrado Nutrição Animal founder Antonio Pedroso will continue to play an important role in the further expansion of the company and will be responsible for sales and customer relationships.

“I am pleased with the takeover by De Heus. With over 100 years of knowledge and experience, De Heus is an authority in animal nutrition," he said. "With its in-depth animal husbandry and nutritional knowledge, De Heus further enhances our innovation capabilities.”

Pedroso added, “De Heus has various high-performing global nutritional feed concepts tailored to all life stages of beef and dairy cattle. I look forward to offering these feed products and supporting services to cattle farmers in the Midwest.”

The acquisition of a pig feed company in 2012 was the starting point for De Heus's activities in Brazil. The company further acquired a feed factory in Apucarana and opened a greenfield factory for the production of an exclusive nutritional supplement called MUB, which positioned De Heus as an innovative company in the beef cattle market. In 2017, construction of a dedicated feed factory for young animals was completed in Toledo, with a focus on piglets and one-day-old chickens.