Plans include modernising their pre-mix mill located on Ship Street

The animal nutrition specialists, Trouw Nutrition Ireland, have confirmed that considerable investments are underway to increase the company’s growth in Northern Ireland.

An additional five-figure sum, with plans for ongoing investments, on top of £2 million spent in recent years to contribute towards modernising their pre-mix mill located on Ship Street, Belfast.

This was confirmed during Trouw Nutrition EU managing director Bastiaan van Tilburg’s first visit to the Northern Ireland headquarters in Belfast.

The investments are a turning point for the feed nutrition company to continue to achieve a steadfast goal of developing sustainable practices throughout its supply chain and enhancing its staff and infrastructure.

Aidan Fisher, general manager of Trouw Nutrition Ireland, explained: “One of our key goals is to focus on inclusivity by continuously growing our teams’ leadership skills at all levels through empowering training opportunities managed by our newly appointed HR business partner Sarah Uprichard.

"We will also progress the uptake of pioneering technologies to measure the environmental footprint of animal feedstuffs and milk feeding habits such as FeedPrint and MilkPrint.

“The significant investment is a welcome opportunity for Trouw Ireland to keep developing our teams’ skill sets and to continue the sustainability journey we began in 2021.

"As a result, our practices will advance innovation and push the feed industry forward with greener processes, in-depth studies, and informing customers through our quality and commercial teams' expertise.”

Sharing his impression of the Trouw Ireland team, Bastiaan explained: “My visit to Trouw Ireland has been an incredibly positive opportunity to see and experience the energy our teams deliver daily. I have been particularly impressed by the commitment to our staff training and investment in current and future talent.

“The enthusiasm, energy, and dedication that our experts deliver reflect the company’s growth on the island of Ireland. From researchers to sales and administration, our vast knowledge of each product and department’s role is inspiring as we represent Trouw’s values – placing both our customers and the environment in the centre of what we do.”

The EU managing director is a keen advocate of Trouw’s purpose of ‘Feeding the Future,’ which is an objective of Trouw’s future investments in sustainable research and manufacturing, delivered through their Roadmap 2025 sustainability strategy.

In the past year, the business has significantly improved its sustainability credentials.

For example, their Ship Street mill is powered by 100% green energy and is well on its way to transitioning its entire fleet of vehicles to renewable fuel within the next three years. It has also reduced its plastic usage by 10%, which will increase to 25% over the next year.

Aidan added: “The nutrition industry is a key element of the solution to enhance sustainability within the wider food industry. Let’s play our part from planet to plate as innovators and investors in sustainable practices. Therefore, we can work in partnership with our customers and partners to behave as sustainability ambassadors and deliver solutions in their industry.”