Novus International is celebrating 25 years of ALIMET feed supplement production with long-standing partner Ascend Performance Materials. Over the last 25 years, Novus and Ascend, including its predecessors Solutia Inc. and Monsanto, have grown the ALIMET production facility in Chocolate Bayou, Texas to the largest liquid methionine manufacturing plant in the world.
More than 600 Novus and Ascend employees and executives participated in a celebration at the Chocolate Bayou site. The celebration included presentations about the importance of ALIMET as a part of the food chain and as a critical tool for meeting future, global protein demands.
Both Ascend and Novus spoke about partnership and how Chocolate Bayou employees are positively impacting the world of agriculture. “The people at Chocolate Bayou are not only helping to feed the world, they are helping to meet the world’s protein demand and to support sustainable agricultural practices.” stated Giovanni Gasperoni, Executive Vice President, Marketing and Sales, Novus International. “Every day, the employees at this site are helping producers and the animals they care for to better utilize their feed ingredients, this lowers input costs, supports animal well-being and decreases the volume of waste which reaches the environment.”
“We are proud to recognize the great work being accomplished by the entire team at Chocolate Bayou and to commemorate our strong partnership with Ascend,” said Thad Simons, President and CEO, Novus International. “Novus and Ascend make excellent business partners because our core values are aligned, most importantly in regards to providing value to our customers, sustainable practices, and the health and safety of our employees.”
Novus and Ascend have formally adopted a series of engagement commitments to focus on continuous improvement and growth of their business partnership. These commitments include:
· Recognizing that ALIMET is part of the food chain and as such requires rigorous
adherence to quality standards.
· Operating facilities in an environmentally responsible fashion.
· Focusing efforts on activities that really matter to the customer and relentlessly
eliminating waste in all its forms.
“The collective management of Novus and Ascend recognize the importance of ALIMET to the animal agriculture industry both today and in the future,” said Tim Strehl, President, Ascend Performance Material. “We are committed to focusing our resources on the growth of ALIMET.”
“Working with Ascend as our valued partner at this world-class facility provides the ideal platform for Novus to expand our reach of ALIMET through the would and into new markets” explained Jeff Klopfenstein, Senior Vice President, Novus International “Novus is well positioned at Chocolate Bayou because of our access to abundant raw materials, a well-educated workforce and a energy efficient infrastructure. The Chocolate Bayou site has the capacity to grow with Novus and the ALIMET market into the future.”
