Three years after acquiring PL Agro, the Singapore-based group brings the business under its own name as it targets one of the world’s fastest-growing livestock markets.
Three years after acquiring PL Agro Technologies, ZAGRO has moved its Chennai company fully under its own name. PL Agro Technologies Pvt Ltd has officially rebranded as ZAGRO India Pvt Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of ZAGRO Singapore Pte Ltd.
ZAGRO said the change deepens the company’s integration with the group and gives Indian customers access to stronger R&D, global manufacturing standards and a broader product portfolio.
It is keen to stress what stays put: ownership, existing contracts and commitments, customer relationships, quality and service standards, and the management and technical teams.
A message from management calls the move “far more than a name change” and describes it as a commitment to becoming a stronger partner for Indian agriculture.
Why India, and why now
The company calls India one of the world’s fastest-growing agricultural and livestock markets, and poultry bears that out.
According to industry research, India is the world’s third-largest egg producer and fifth-largest producer of poultry meat, with annual egg output above 140 billion.
Every one of those birds needs feed, health cover and biosecurity, and that is the ground ZAGRO wants to work.
What ZAGRO India will sell
The Indian business will run across three lines:
Looking ahead, ZAGRO plans to serve poultry, dairy, beef cattle, swine, aquaculture, companion animal and crop customers nationwide, with technical consultancy, product support and training.
The Chennai plant is the group’s main production hub for India. It makes mineral premixes, both organic and inorganic, along with mycotoxin binders, Halquinol, oral liquids, Tiamulin 80% and customized products.
ZAGRO’s stated aims for the site are to increase market penetration, cut product lead times and respond faster to customers.
The guiding line, in the company’s words, is “Global technology, local production and effective solutions”. It has also said it wants closer ties with poultry farmers, veterinarians and feed millers across India.
The people behind it
Poh Beng Swee, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ZAGRO Asia Limited, builds the group’s message around partnership.
Poh Beng Swee
In a statement on the company website, he said ZAGRO has long supplied customers with quality products and reliable service, and that working closely with them will let the group “develop innovative products and agrisolutions, together.” Better service and product quality, he added, follow from understanding each other’s needs.
Dr Hary Hartantyo, a veterinarian by training, has been Regional Director at ZAGRO Singapore since 2019, more than seven years in the role, and is also General Director of ZAGRO Vietnam. He joined the group in 2005.
Dr Hary Hartantyo
In India, the commercial business is led by Manas Mitra, Commercial Head – India, while Raja Vadivel, R&D Project Manager at ZAGRO Singapore, is the contact for technical assistance and product information.
Manas Mitra
Mr Mitra was recently at the 3rd National Symposium of Vets in Poultry, where he called the event a good place to share knowledge and tackle the industry’s problems together, and he urged people to attend the next Poultry India Expo.
A group that grew away from home
ZAGRO was established in 1953 as a division of the Swiss-based Zuellig Group and listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange in 1996.
It develops, makes and markets animal health, animal nutrition, crop care, public health and industrial chemical products, and said it has more than 70 years of international experience and a presence in over 70 countries.
The company reports 522 animal health registrations and 150 trademarks, and said 99.9% of its business is international.
Much of that reach was built between 2004 and 2010, through new subsidiaries in Indonesia, Germany, South Africa, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam, and the purchase of BASF’s animal nutrition business in Taiwan.
In ASEAN, it sells directly to customers, and elsewhere it relies on distributors. Its plants hold GMP and ISO 22000 certification, and testing is done by an accredited independent laboratory, Pacific Lab Services.
One recent product story is Ultraxide, a disinfectant the company said is effective against African swine fever.
What to watch
The rename adds no new factory and no new product. It does make clear who stands behind the Chennai plant.
Whether that turns into market share will depend on service at farm and feed mill level, which is where Indian buyers tend to decide.
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