Cargill, together with its partner Naturisa, have reached an agreement to partner with Skyvest EC Holding to create a new joint venture that will serve Ecuadorian shrimp farmers’ increasing demand for high-quality shrimp feed.

Cargill first brought its world-class nutrition formulation expertise to Ecuador in 2015 when it partnered with shrimp-farming company Naturisa to build and operate a shrimp-feed manufacturing facility under the name Aquacargill del Ecuador. “Since that time, the Ecuadorian shrimp farming industry has continued to grow, and there is a need to meet the increased demand for high-quality feed,” said Helene Ziv-Douki, president of Cargill’s aqua nutrition business.

Through this new joint venture with Skyvest, Cargill will expand its shrimp-feed production capabilities to own and operate the shrimp-feed production facility currently owned by Skyvest subsidiary Empagran—located in Guayaquil, Ecuador. The feed plant that will be operated by Cargill was built in 2018, has a production capacity of 156,000 metric tons and employs more than 200 people.

“Through this joint venture, Cargill will nearly double its production capacity, and we will improve our capacity to serve our customers and partners. We will invest in this facility and expand our offering of shrimp feeds under the Cargill’s Aquaxcel brand to meet increasing demand for feed among our customers,” said Angel Gomez, managing director of Cargill’s aqua nutrition business in northern Latin America.

The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to close in the coming months.