September 12th – Kilkenny - AB Agri Ltd, the agricultural division of Associated British Foods (ABF) group which operates in the retail, food and agriculture sectors, is to establish a Technology Centre in Kilkenny, creating up to 50 new roles over five years.
The project is supported by the Irish government through IDA Ireland.
AB Agri was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Peterborough, UK. The company employs over 3,500 people around the world and is a leading international agricultural business operating across the agri-food industry. It produces and markets animal feed, nutrition and technology-based products and services in 65 countries to over 5 million customers.
Kilkenny has been selected as the location of a new Technology Centre for Intellync, AB Agri‘s data and technology business.
Intellync helps customers drive impact where it matters through bridging the gap between people, data and technology. Intellync works across agricultural supply chains with major food processors, retailers and directly with farmers to increase productivity, improve animal health and enhance corporate responsibility (CR) programmes.
This new Technology Centre will develop new generations of technology solutions that improve farm performance and drive continuous improvement across agricultural supply chains.
Speaking about today’s announcement José Nobre, Chief Executive of AB Agri said “AB Agri holds a unique position operating right across the agri-food industry. With over 30 years of expertise, we have a detailed understanding of agriculture’s importance in the global food supply chain and our philosophy is to help change it for the better.
“The holistic, targeted solutions developed by our new Intellync team and technology centre in Ireland will provide our industry with the insight to improve performance throughout the agri-food supply chain, helping it to meet the inevitable global growth in demand for food in a responsible way.
“The combination of our digital products, data insight and technological innovation with our expertise in feed and nutrition, will enable customers around the world, to produce and process high yielding, safe and nutritious food in a responsible way; helping them to use fewer chemicals and antibiotics, safeguard natural resources and create less waste and lower emissions.
“This is an extremely exciting time for agriculture; the fast pace of developments being made in technology and the use of data are going to help our industry to make the major step changes we need to see in improving responsible productivity, if we are to continue to feed our global growing population in a sustainable way.”
Ireland’s EU Commissioner for Trade, Phil Hogan, who welcomed today’s announcement for Kilkenny, said: ”Technology and data-driven innovation will be central to improving the efficiency, competitiveness and sustainability of our agri-food systems in the coming years. The establishment of this important Agricultural Technology Centre in Kilkenny will help Ireland to remain at the cutting edge of producing more, while using less.”
Minister for Trade, Employment, Business and EU Digital Single Market Pat Breen TD who attended the event said “I would like to welcome AB Agri to Kilkenny and wish them well for their future here. Their presence here further reinforces Ireland’s reputation as a progressive hub for innovation and technology. The digital age continues to present exciting enterprise opportunities and it is of course wonderful to see the continued availability of such highly skilled jobs in regional locations.”
IDA Ireland CEO Martin Shanahan welcomed the announcement saying:
“AB Agri is one of the largest companies operating in the European agricultural industry and is a most welcome addition to our portfolio of companies operating in the South-East region. This agtech project is ideally suited to Kilkenny which is located in an agricultural heartland, offering a good quality of life, a competitive business environment and access to tech talent. On behalf of IDA Ireland I would like to wish José Nobre and the local team our ongoing support at this exciting time of growth and innovation for AB Agri.”
The majority of the new roles will be in software development, software engineering and data science with other roles in HR, business administration and finance. For more information on the new roles go to: www.intellync.com
Notes to editors:
AB Agri was founded in 1984. The company was acquired by Associated British Foods (ABF) in 1991. ABF is a diversified international food, ingredients and retail group of companies.
AB Agri is a leading international agricultural business operating across the agri-food industry, producing and marketing animal feed, nutrition- and technology-based products and services. Active in over 70 countries around the world with 28 feed production sites in the UK, Europe and China. AB Agri’s headquarters and main shared service operations are based in Peterborough, UK.
AB Agri has developed a number of ancillary businesses over the course of its 35-year history which aim to complement its core business. Its core capabilities include:
Specialised feed ingredients
A major investor in research and development of speciality feed ingredients and mixtures, providing highly specialised advice around procurement and formulation for livestock feeds and pet foods as well as global manufacturing expertise. It markets pioneering feed ingredients: additive products, high-quality, bespoke, vitamin and mineral pre-mixes, starter feeds, and micro-ingredients developed using a world-class expertise in feed enzymes, nutrition and product formulation.
Supply chain, data and technology solutions
With twenty years of expertise, its data and technology platforms deliver targeted insight that create continuous improvement for agricultural supply chains in over 60 countries. Working exclusively with major food processors, retailers and directly with farmers, AB Agri enables them to:
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increase productivity and yields
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improve animal health and husbandry
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deploy robust quality assurance and Corporate Responsibility (CR) programmes
Co-product innovation and marketing
AB Agri is the UK’s largest and most progressive marketer of food, drink and energy co-products, having pioneered the industry for over 30 years. Co products are a secondary product stream created during the manufacture of food, drink and bio-fuels. They are usually cereal or plant-based residues from industries such as brewing, distilling and sugar production.
By understanding the true nutritional value of food and drink co-products and investing in their development we add value to manufacturers by creating highly valued and marketable feed ingredients from their co-products.
It also uses its expertise to provide product innovation, testing and consulting services through its AMUR anaerobic digestion business, which turns food waste into renewable energy. Launched in 2016 it is a key element of AB Agri’s commitment in being a circular business.
Compound feed
A major international manufacturer and supplier of pig, poultry and dairy feeds with 36 production sites in the UK, continental Europe and China. It works closely with major processors and producers to benchmark productivity and performance, developing tailored feeds and new feeding regimes to improve performance for every customer.
Commodity risk Management
The UK’s leading grain trading and crop inputs (seed, crop protection and fertiliser products, agronomy and precision farming advice) company through Frontier Agriculture, a joint venture with Cargill plc, providing customers with in-depth insight into global commodity markets.