Bonafarm Group’s GMO free story
A practical example from Hungary
Gergely Pókos
Deputy CEO, Bonafarm Co.
Bonafarm Group – Quick facts
Food
processing
Crop
production:
apx. 25 thousand hectares of
cultivated area
Fodder
production:
apx. 350 thousand tons of
fodder produced annually
Pork
breeding:
500 thousand pigs per year
Poultry
breeding:
4 million chickens per year
Dairy cattle
breeding:
2.800 dairy cows
Meat
production:
apx. 1 million pigs slaughtered
annually (*with strategic partner)
Meat
processing:
production of apx. 10 thousand
tons of salami and 30 thousand
tons of other processed meat
Milk
processing:
340 million liters of milk
processed annually
• We employ close to
6.500 people in more
than 40 locations in
Hungary
• Consolidated
revenue up to EUR
500 million
• Yearly EBITDA up to
EUR 35 million
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Video
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Vertical integration – main lines of operation
Crop
production
Feed
production
Crop trade
Animal
husbandry
Primary
processing
~100%
Secondary
processing
~40%
~100%
~33%
~100%
~66%
~100%
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Changing to GMO free production
Crop
production
We need to
grow GMO
free crops

Crop trade
Feed
production
Animal
husbandry
Primary
processing
Secondary
processing
We need to buy
GMO free feed
ingredients
We need GMO
free feed
We need GMO
free animals
We need GMO
free base
material
How can we
have GMO free
food products?





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Changing to GMO free production - Why we do it?
Differentiation
Western
Europe
Near and
Far East
Southwest
Europe
VS. Competition
VS.
Import
products
to
Export
markets
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Bonafarm’s GMO free concept
Concept

Result
(what happened)
Grow GMO
free crops
Status
Crop
production
Crop trade
Buy Hungarian!
…and GMO free
soybeans

3-4 thousand
20 thousand
hectares of GMO
tons of GMO
free soy
free soybeans
produced in 2015 bought in 2015
Feed
production
Animal
husbandry
Produce all the
Feed all animals
internally used
with GMO free
feed from GMO
fodder
free ingredients

3 out of 5 feed
factories switched
to GMO free
production in 2016
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-
Primary
processing
Secondary
processing
Label the meat
products with
GMO free logo
Label the
processed meat
and milk
products with
GMO free logo
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-
-
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What about the costs?
Crop
production
Crop trade
Feed
production
Animal
husbandry
Processed
food
RETAIL
&
Consumer
Extra costs
Feed conversion rate: 3 kg / kg
Calculated cost
increase:
+ 10-15%
+ 1-1,5%
Extra revenue
Soybean meal rate: 10%
+ 3-4,5%
+ 3-13,5%
High quality meat rate: 33%
??? %
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Consumer’s
interest
Labeling and traceability
Crop trade
Time
needed
Bonafarm’s
job
Crop
production
Feed
production
Animal
husbandry
Processed
food
RETAIL
&
Consumer
Traceability
Audit process (+ testing period)
~ 1 month
~ 3-4 months
~ 5-6 months
~ 2-3 months
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Experiences in the course of the GMO free project



We will use less soybean meal in feed
production
Due to the higher base material price,
our feed recipes started depending
less on soybean meal (by 30-35% less)
Working with 3rd party logistics partners
could be an extra risk in the process
We had a few unexpected problems
with our logistics partners
The Hungarian GMO free soy market is
limited (soybeans, meal and oil also)
In Hungary there are around 120
thousand tons of soybeans, and there
is no market for soy oil

For the crop producers, soya is not a
base product
Out of 5 million hectares of crops in
Hungary, only ~60 thousand hectares
are used for soy production

There is real demand from the retailers
for local, and GMO free food products
Retailers in Hungary and in our export
markets also started to show interest
for Hungarian and GMO free products
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Thank You for your attention!
Gergely Pókos
Bonafarm Co.
Deputy CEO
[email protected]
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