The ruminant feed business of McLarnon Feeds has been sold by Moy Park to John Thompson and Sons Ltd.

It means that the existing feed mill in Randalstown will now concentrate solely on the manufacture and supply of poultry feed to Moy Park growers.

It is understood that the decision was taken after questions were raised by Moy Park’s parent company, Brazilian-based JBS, about the logic of Moy Park continuing to own a feeds business that was multi-species, supplying both ruminant and non-ruminant feed.

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While McLarnon was manufacturing ruminant feed, at the same time Moy Park was (and still is) heavily reliant on Thompsons as a feed supplier to its poultry business.

The deal means that Thompsons will increase its tonnage of ruminant feed, but lose some tonnage that was previously supplied to Moy Park, given that the Randalstown mill will now concentrate on poultry feed.

All eight of the existing McLarnon ruminant sales team moved across to Thompsons at the start of this week. The McLarnon brand will remain, and Thompsons will now manufacture the same ruminant diets as previously offered by McLarnon. Commenting on the deal, David Gibson, Moy Park’s Director of Agriculture said that it was the right time for Moy Park to optimise its own mill capacity and that a £1.2m investment would be made in the feed mill in 2016. The McLarnon business was previously owned by O’Kane poultry, which was subsequently acquired by Moy Park in 2010.

John Thompson and Sons Ltd is the largest animal feed company in NI and is a joint venture between Belfast based feed importers W&R Barnett Ltd and Dublin-based Origin Enterprises plc.

Gibson to leave Moy Park

Sources in the food industry have indicated that Moy Park’s UK and Ireland director Alan Gibson is to leave the company.

A member of the executive board, Gibson has been with Moy Park since 1987.