RANDERS, Denmark – Danish Crown and Westfleisch plan to participate in a 50/50 joint venture focused on deboning and sales of sow meat. They are proposing to call the joint venture Westcrown, pending approval by the Competition Authority in Brussels.

Westfleisch operates a sow deboning business in Schöppingen, Germany, near the Dutch border, with an annual quantity of 355,000 animals. Meanwhile, Danish Crown slaughters approximately 325,000 sows in Denmark per year. To date, these sows have been sold as split-carcasses to buyers primarily in Germany

“We have a clear expectation that co-investing in our own deboning facilities will secure better prices for our owners,” said Kjeld Johannesen, Group CEO of Danish Crown. “More specifically, we will remove an intermediary step to increase earnings for our owners.”

“We are very pleased to have found such an applicable partner for a common business in a competitive market segment,” added Dr. Helfried Giesen, spokesman of the Westfleisch eG Board. “Danish suppliers are known for high-quality pork, which adds eminently to our current raw materials in Northwest Germany and our know-how in refining.”

Danish Crown has been trying to find ways to increase the benefits for its cooperative members who supply sows for a long time, Johannesen said. “By pooling our resources with Westfleisch, we are confident to make possible a profitable proposition for both parties from day one”, he added.

Finding such a promising joint-venture after Westfleisch’s recent strategic investment in the beef market is definitely a valuable sign for the company’s agricultural co-operators, members and customers as being a reliable and future-oriented partner, Giesen added.