Bühler-Premier Tech JV evolves into bulk grain and feed packaging global partnership

15 May 2020 --- Swiss Bühler Group and Canada-based Premier Tech (PT) are evolving their joint venture (JV) in China into a new global partnership for bulk food packaging. The partnership will allow Bühler to either access PT’s bagging and palletizing technologies through the joint venture set to begin on July 1, or directly through the latter’s facilities for the high-end food feed and grain markets worldwide.

“The combined portfolio of Bühler and Premier Tech offers already today best-in-class solutions for food-safe packaging. The first priority for the joint venture will be to offer fully automated solutions at affordable prices for the flour and feed markets, which today still are largely manual or semi-automatic,” Johannes Wick, CEO Grains & Food at Bühler Group, tells PackagingInsights. 

The partnership is focusing on delivering affordable bulk packaging solutions for all food and feed markets, with the largest segments being animal nutrition and flour, followed by rice. The solutions are designed for applications between 10 and 50 kg bags, indicating packaging for consumer products (which are typically 1 kg bags) are not the focus of either company. 

The JV's first priority is to offer fully automated solutions at affordable prices for the flour and feed markets, which are still largely manual or semi-automatic, says Wick.High demands for Chinese JV
After entering their strategic cooperation last August, Bühler and Premier Tech have worked closely together in the interest of forming a 50/50 JV in China that will officially begin in mid-2020. The JV aims to develop and market new cost-effective packaging solutions based on PT’s bagging expertise. Operating in Wuxi, China, PT-Bühler will focus on serving the food and feed markets in China, as well as other markets moving towards cost-effective automation.

“Business in our markets in China has recovered very fast. We are fully operational and perfectly on track to start operation in July. After Chinese New Year the shutdown was extended due to COVID-19, but in many regions Bühler was among the first companies receiving the authorizations to resume operations. Given the high demands, our facilities are currently running seven days a week,” Wick affirms. 

Pooling staff from both companies, the PT-Bühler team-up will benefit from Bühler’s know-how of high-quality manufacturing and supply chain management in China as well as its digital solutions. Both companies will offer the JV’s solutions in their respective markets, with Bühler focusing on turnkey plants and Premier Tech on standalone solutions. 

For the manual and semi-automatic packaging applications, the JV will serve all markets globally for food and feed. The fully automated solutions will focus on the markets with growing automation needs. These focus markets include China, South East Asia, Africa, and Latin America,” says Wick.

External collaborations pay dividends
Bühler’s previous business endeavors have often led the company to external collaborations. Having joined forces with Givaudan, Bühler is set to open an Innovation Center dedicated to plant-based food in Singapore. 

Together with Nestlé, the two companies are also co-founding the Future Food Initiative (FFI). It is designed to step up the search for sustainable, plastic-free packaging and secure access to affordable nutrition as part of the global challenge of addressing hunger, malnutrition and environmental sustainability.

Bühler Insect Technology Solutions (BITS) combined its expertise with Alfa Laval, a specialist in heat transfer, separation and fluid handling, to offer advanced modular insect-plant solutions to the booming and fast-growing insect industry. 

Following the growing trend for virtual events substituting for rescheduled or canceled physical trade shows, Bühler hosted its first virtual trade show this week in the wake of the postponed interpack event, which was scheduled to take place from May 7-13 this year.

Wick concludes that the potential of the partnership and its JV is huge. “In today’s world, collaboration is key as no company alone is strong enough to cope with changing requirements in our dynamic world. Partnerships of market leaders, with the aim of delivering best end-to-end-solutions, might thus be seen more frequently. 

By Anni Schleicher