Brazil's largest egg producer to invest R$100m in two new farms
"I know they are going to call me crazy. But the future is no longer chickens inside cages." Leader of Minas Gerais-based Mantiqueira, the largest eggs producer in Brazil, executive Leandro Pinto believes freer - and happier - chickens are more profitable and more in line with the times.
Pioneer in the 90s with the construction of automated granges, Mr. Pinto is now committed to never again build sheds to keep hens in cages, a traditional production system that is the target of campaigns from animal protection organizations.
In an interview with Valor, the executive revealed that Mantiqueira will invest around R$100 million to build two new cage-free granges in Lorena, São Paulo, and Campanha, Minas Gerais. The goal is for the company to have one-third of egg production under this system until 2025. This is also the deadline in which chains like McDonald's will stop buying eggs from caged chickens.
Construction already started in Lorena and the expectation is that the unit will be ready in 2021. After, Mantiqueira will start construction in Campanha, Mr. Pinto said. Further down, the company plans to build a third grange in Paraná, but the town was not chosen yet.
With focus in sustainability, the project will be financed by a "green line of credit". According to Mantiqueira's founder, a contract for R$50 million was closed Thursday with bank Itaú BBA. Interest rates may be reduced if sustainability goals are achieved. Mantiqueira intends to neutralize CO2 emissions at the Lorena unit.
The logistic to distribute the eggs was also created following Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) criteria, said Mr. Pinto. Transportation will be done by electric or biogas trucks - in this case, the fuel will be produced from the waste of laying hens. In 2021, Mantiqueira will have five trucks made by Volkswagen. By 2025, the number is expected to reach 50.
With capacity for 10.5 million chickens in its four granges, Mantiqueira can produce 2.5 billion eggs a year. Despite being the largest in the sector, the company founded in 1987 has a stake of only 5% of the very fragmented market. In 2019, Brazil produced more than 55 billion eggs, a record number, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).Currently, only one of...
Para continuar a ler
PEÇA SUA AVALIAÇÃO