Meet Coops Mengvoeders and their passion for cattle and feed

“Concentrated feed for connoisseurs” is the motto of Coops Mengvoeders from Halle. Coops Mengvoeders develops and produces compound feed for pigs and cattle, says Managing Director Arno ter Maat. “We specialise in customising cattle and pig feed”.

Our own vision, feeds and recipes

Since 2016, Coops Mengvoeders has been part of De Heus Group. “But we are completely independent and work with our own vision and own recipes”, says Ter Maat. “Our reasoning starts from the barn. When we visit a customer, we visit their barn. We look at the cattle, the circumstances, possibly together with other visitors such as the veterinarian, and then consult with them to determine the right feed for this specific farmer’s cattle or pigs. At some pig farms, we supply 7 different types of feed. We have a total of 300 different recipes”.

Coops Mengvoeders’ roller mill is a unique system in the Netherlands. Here, every raw material is processed in the ideal way for the animal species that will eat the feed. This makes it possible to determine the ideal structure of the feed down to the customer level.

Optimal yield

The customisation is based on a clear vision. “Our ambition is to improve our customers’ yields. We do this by responding to the needs of the individual farm. The customer defines the objectives and we look at what is needed to achieve them together. Not every farmer and not every farm are the same. The combination of a quality product and good advice ensures the best possible yield”.

Entrepreneur of the future

Coops Mengvoeders is not just a supplier, but above all an advisor to its customers. “There is so much coming at them. A farmer used to be a good animal keeper. Today, there is so much more to it and you really need to be a manager. You need to have knowledge and love of the profession and the cattle, but you also need to be financially literate and have a vision: how will I run my farm towards the future? How am I going to manage everything we are faced with, such as the task of reducing CO2 emissions and the nitrogen problem? From our perspective, we help our customers with advice and feed mixtures that contribute to achieving our ambition”.

Innovation

Coops Mengvoeders invests heavily in innovation. For example, a micro dosing system was recently put into use that automatically adds the right mix of minerals.

Total package of Ecotrans Logistics and Nijhof-Wassink

Coops Mengvoeders outsources all its transport activities. “For that, we want everything taken care of with trucks and drivers that present a positive image. Nijhof-Wassink and Ecotrans Logistics offer us a full package and supply the trucks and the drivers. There are always four Nijhof-Wassink trucks driving for us in shifts, in our colours. What if we need extra capacity? In that case, our planner will contact Nijhof-Wassink to deploy extra capacity from the Nijhof-Wassink network. Every four weeks, we have a bagged goods week and deliver bagged goods to our customers. Ecotrans Logistics takes care of that for us”.

High load factor

In transport, customisation and efficiency go hand in hand. “We use a number of 32-tonne semi-trailers with relatively small compartments (12 bays), because we also deliver many small portions. Transport is a substantial part of the cost price, and in this way we can make the load factor as high as possible and keep the cost per kilometre as low as possible. To help do so, we also started using a new, advanced loading line a few years ago that allows us to load a bulk trailer in ten minutes. Previously, it took 45 minutes. Less downtime means more efficiency”.

Signboard in the yard

Long-term relationships are the basis for Coops Mengvoeders. “With both our customers and our suppliers, in this case Nijhof-Wassink and Ecotrans Logistics. In fact, the driver is our signboard in the farmer’s yard, and that makes them an essential link in the relationship with our client. It has to be correct and effective. They know exactly where the silos are and what type of feed needs to be unloaded into which silo. We have to be able to trust that everything will go well. Nijhof-Wassink and Ecotrans Logistics have lived up to that trust for years”.

Facts and figures on Coops Mengvoeders

• Coops Mengvoeders’ headquarters are located in Halle (NL)
• The company has production sites in Halle and Winterswijk (NL)
• Coops Mengvoeders has 50 employees
• Coops Mengvoeders supplies cattle and pig farms