Darling Ingredients Repurposing with a Purpose

Darling Ingredients

Repurposing with a Purpose

By Sandy Trojansek, Meat & Poultry Ontario

Integrity, transparency, and entrepreneurship. These core values, and the way employees of Darling Ingredients (NYSE: DAR) live them daily are essential to building the organization’s reputation and superior quality of products and services they are known for, according to Suann Guthrie, Vice President, Investor Relations, Sustainability and Global Communications.

Established in 1882, the company employs 12,000 employees and has 250 plants in 17 countries. It is the largest publicly traded company turning food waste into sustainable products, and a leading producer of renewable energy. Darling Ingredients has been an associate member of Meat & Poultry Ontario (MPO) since 1988.

The organization is growing, with the recent acquisition of two companies.

“Darling Ingredients announced two strategic acquisitions to grow its base business,” Guthrie says. “Valley Proteins, which closed on May 2 for $1.1 billion, plus or minus various closing adjustments, includes 18 plants that process about 2.4 metric tons of raw material per year, and enough fat to produce 125 million gallons of renewable diesel.”

The second acquisition was announced after the purchase of Valley Proteins closed on May 2.

“On May 5, we announced the signing of a definitive agreement to purchase FASA Group,” she says. “FASA Group processes more than 1.3 million metric tons of beef, pork and chicken annually through 14 rendering plants with an additional two plants under construction and has approximately 2,400 employees. FASA will augment our supply of low carbon feedstocks to Diamond Green Diesel.”

Guthrie explained the company’s four-legged approach regarding growth: • Green electricity – They continue to see opportunities to add digestion capacity, which allows us to arbitrage different raw material streams, and divert from land fill. • Diamond Green Diesel – They are currently producing renewable diesel for over the road. We see opportunities to add sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as a possibility. This will largely depend on policy that would incent the movement toward SAF. • Food segment – They see growth in this area. We have seen a compound annual growth rate of 14.5% in this segment over the last 3 years. This is from our business that produces gelatin and

Peptan (collagen). • Our Global Ingredients or core rendering business – They acquired Valley Proteins, who was the #2 in the US, and about 50% the size of Darling’s USA rendering operations per week. The FASA Group in Brazil makes sense, as Brazil will feed the world and we see strong animal agriculture growth.

Like other organizations, the company currently deals with supply chain challenges, escalating energy prices and labour issues.

Guthrie stated that the future is looking good for the organization.

“The business environment remains very favorable for Darling Ingredients,” she says. Rendering volumes are robust and growing. Darling Ingredients continues to lead the way in creating renewable and bioenergy solutions to combat rapidly rising energy prices and satisfy the world’s demand for decarbonization.”

Guthrie also mentioned expected growth in other areas of the company.

“We expect our green energy business in Europe to flourish as we expand capacity to meet demand,” she says. “We are completing our expansion of Diamond

Green Diesel, our joint venture with Valero. In 2023, we will be supplying the world with 1.3 billion gallons of renewable diesel made primarily from waste fats and oils.”

Guthrie explains her business philosophy as follows: “The world’s population is expected to increase by 2 billion people in the next 30 years to 9.7 billion in 2050,” she says. “With population growth, there are two things the world will need, more energy and more food. Darling Ingredients is at the center of that. We play an essential role in creating solutions that sustain life.”

When asked which business tip she would give her younger self, she says “Get out to the operations as much as you can. You don’t learn the business by sitting behind a desk.” households,” she says. “We are committed to being part of the solution and are continuously looking for new opportunities to innovate as we aim to be Net Zero by 2050.”

Sustainability as at the core of Darling Ingredients. “Our purpose is to repurpose, and it’s been our mission since 1882,” she says. “Where others see waste, we see potential. We repurpose 15% of residual that doesn’t make it to the dinner plate each year. In order to ensure a bright future for generations to come, we must find sustainable ways to produce the food, feed, and fuel necessary to maintain a good quality of life.” Guthrie believes that supporting MPO is important because “MPO plays a critical role to ensure a strong agricultural sector by facilitating a cooperative and mutually beneficial relationship between producers and processors,” she says.

This is also evident in their other initiatives within the organization.

“Through our joint venture Diamond Green Diesel, we will produce 750 million gallons of renewable diesel in 2022,” she says. “This is equivalent to removing more than 1.2 million trucks off the road.”

“Additionally, we are a leading green energy producer in Europe, diverting waste destined for landfill and turning it into green electricity—in fact, enough electricity to power nearly 14,000 homes and enough renewable gas to heat nearly 5,000 Darling International Canada Inc. Kevyn Debruyn (289) 309-3510 www.darlingii.com