Devenish, the Northern Ireland-based animal nutrition and ag-tech company, has signed a 10-year R&D and supply agreement valued at £30m (€34m) with Jamaican poultry company Caribbean Broilers Group (CB Group), which has operations in poultry, pork and fresh produce.

As part of the deal, Devenish will build a state-of-the-art poultry performance house in Jamaica, where both companies will collaborate on joint research and development trials.

The group now employs more than 700 people

Devenish chief executive Richard Kennedy said the deal was an important part of the group’s international growth and a significant milestone in the rollout of its performance house business model.

In recent years, Devenish has continued to expand its international presence, providing animal nutrition products for the pig, poultry, ruminant livestock and equine sectors. The group now employs more than 700 people and has manufacturing operations in Ireland, the UK, Turkey, Uganda and the US.

For its 2019 financial year, Devenish recorded sales of £102.6m (€118m) and made operating profits of just under £655,000 (€750,000).