Dawn Foods to team up with Minerva

A €30 million joint venture between Dawn Farm Foods, based in Naas, Co Kildare, and Minerva Sao Paulo, one of Brazil’s largest beef producers and exporters, was announced yesterday.

The new company, Minerva Dawn Farms, involves the establishment of a 10,000 square metre state-of-the-art cooked meat ingredient facility in Brazil, operating to United States Department of Agriculture and European Union standards.

Work on the new facility, which will be located in Barretos, Sao Paulo, will commence this year. It is expected that the work will be completed and production will commence in 2008.

The 50-50 joint venture is a strategic move by both companies to widen their supply capability for their combined blue chip global customer base.

Dawn Farm Foods, part of the privately owned Queally Group, is a leading manufacturer and exporter of fully cooked meat ingredients for sale into the European and Middle Eastern food manufacturing and service sectors.

Last October, it announced the acquisition in Britain of TMI Foods, which is a market leader in the sale of microwave cooked bacon, party foods and grilled vegetables.

Earlier last year, it announced a €28m investment programme at its food campus in Naas. This includes a €10m spend on the first privately owned Meat Science and Innovation Centre to be built in Ireland.

Established in 1957 by the Vilela de Queiroz family, Minerva exports mostly chilled and frozen beef to manufacturing, retail and food service customers mainly in Britain, Italy, Russia, and the Middle East.

Minerva Foods commercial director Fernando Galletti de Queiroz said it was pleased to make this strategic link with Dawn Farms.

“The plant will specialise in the production of customised meat ingredients for application within the foodservice and manufacturing sectors worldwide.

“It will draw heavily on Dawn Farms well-recognised expertise as the European market leader in this area,” he said.