Olleco, the renewables division of Larry Goodman's ABP Food Group, has announced an agreement with American firm Bunge to form a 50/50 joint venture to create a business that encompasses the full life-cycle of edible oils.
The joint venture will work with foodservice and food manufacturing customers in Europe - excluding UK and Ireland - to supply oils and to collect used cooking oil for use as a feedstock in the production of renewable fuels.
Olleco is the UK’s leading supplier of premium cooking oils and collector of used cooking oil and food waste.
The oil Olleco collects is converted into biofuels and the food waste collected is transformed into renewable energy and fertiliser.
Olleco employs over 1,000 people at 19 sites across the UK and Ireland and services c.50,000 catering establishments.
In Association with
Olleco collects used cooking oil and food waste from McDonald’s restaurants. The used cooking oil is converted into biofuel which is used in the fast food chain’s transport fleet.
The food waste is converted to renewable energy which powers the processing of milk at Arla’s dairy and in turn is supplied to McDonald’s restaurants. The bio-waste from the renewable energy is used as a fertiliser by farmers.
Bunge, with annual sales of $59bn and quoted on the New York Stock Exchange, is the world leader in oilseed processing and a leading producer and supplier of specialty plant-based oils and fats.
Based in St. Louis, Missouri, Bunge has c.23,000 employees and operates c.300 facilities in 40 countries.
The Olleco/Bunge JV will operate out of Amsterdam.
Olleco CEO Joe Kenny stated: “This is an exciting step for Olleco in Europe. The joint venture will accelerate our expanding footprint allowing us to unlock a wider, professionalised service to the food industry that works to capture this valuable resource. We’re delighted to partner with Bunge, a company that is agile, innovative and committed to the renewables space.”
Earlier this year, Bunge formalised a joint venture with Chevron to produce renewable feedstocks.
Bunge’s soybean processing plants in Destrehan, Louisiana and Illinois will be contributed to the joint venture with Chevron contributing c.$600m in cash.
Under the agreement, Chevron will have purchase rights for the oil to use as a renewable feedstock to manufacture transportation fuels with lower lifecycle carbon intensity.
