Israeli feed miller is investing in the future

Israel has around 25 commercial feed millers most of which are active in the ruminant sector. This sector is also growing in Israel as the number of calves and dairy cows increases. Today, about 40% of Israeli diary far
ms (of which 85% are family owned farms) are using the services from the company Masuot Yitzhak Food Center.“The company was established 17 years ago and started producing cattle feed for dairy cows, firstly only to the kibbutz and later also to other diary farms in the area” explains Simon Fartosh, CEO of Masuot Yitzhak. “Later, due to mechanical innovations at the mill we started supplying all over the country and abroad”.

New unit
We take a look inside. The Masuot Yitzhak Food Center covers 350 acres across two separate units: the feed centre and the mixture centre. Scaling, dividing and adding of raw materials and supplements to the mixtures is being done in the control room. Raw materials, supplements and vitamin quantities are added to the mixture with digression of only one percent. “A one percent digression brings us an enormous amortisation saving”, says Ronny Shaviro, marketing manager of Masuot Yitzhak. “This is important when you work with expensive supplements such as vitamins and minerals.” After a careful check on efficiency, production and estimation of the milk quotas policy, the company decided to combine the feed and a mixture centres in a newly built unit. This enabled the company to sell the mixtures to farms and moshavs, from Kiryat-Gat to Lod city. Through the years the company also acquired various sites in Gezer, Hefets-Haim (“Haim Mixtures”) and in Shuval (“Shuvaley Bar”). Today they supply mixtures for domestic farm animals.
Feed on demandFartosh: “In 2005 we had an essential change – our feed centre became the only feed centre in the world that supplies feed from an accurate mixture compartment with no hand touch at all. The unique part of the system is the ‘Movable Center’ with a mobile mixing device that can mine raw materials using a mobile trench from special store house to store house (made by Lachish Industries), loading the materials himself, mixing them and unloading them on the trucks. “This new system allows us to be more costumer-oriented and supply feed on demand”. Fartosh: “In the mixture centre we have a grinding system that handles the grains and seeds. From there they are transferred to storing containers, and then to a precise scale. Afterwards the food passes to a premix mixer, to get homogeneous dispersal of microelements and vitamins. From there the food passes through automatic conveyor belts to static wagons, where it’s mixed with the hays and the wet materials (marinades, adjunct materials, treated grains and more). Unloading the mixture from the truck is also done with a scale. “We have a complex of containers, conveyor belts, chambers, mixing machines and a computerised alignment of liquid foods (cheese water and mulls), electronic controllers and computer software’s to control the system. Our new quantity tower and the mixture centre are planned to answer to two main targets: more efficiency in production and raising the final product quality level.

Investing
The company is currently investing heavily. Fartosh: “That’s true, I can’t specify the entire business programme, but I can tell you that we are investing about one million US dollars in a year, according to a long term plan. Our annual turnover is growing about 25% annually and we are providing roughly 22,000 normative portions each day, about 660 tonnes. “Last year (September 2008) we started the first production of packed mixtures exported to Cyprus. We already exported mixtures to Jordan and we are in advanced negotiations on building new feed millers abroad, based on the new technology developed in Masuot Yitzhak. Today we have four sites and we are supplying 15% of the diary farms mixtures in Israel”.