DAVA Foods achieves record results and raises ambitions for plant-based foods

Danish Agro's subsidiary DAVA Foods ended 2023 with a record-breaking result. The company increased its operating profit to EUR 15 million compared to EUR 4 million in 2022, while revenue was maintained at EUR 222 million.

"2023 was a very good year for DAVA Foods, which has navigated well in a turbulent market and at the same time has had a great development within innovation and value-added products. At the same time, part of the progress in DAVA Foods is due to the development in the world markets, where there has been an undersupply of eggs throughout the year due to, among other things, outbreaks of bird flu," says Henning Haahr, CEO of Danish Agro.

The reduced supply of eggs led to rising egg prices, and DAVA Foods managed to raise egg prices throughout 2023. Despite falling feed prices, the price at the beginning of 2024 has been maintained at a historically high level.

DAVA Foods is one of the largest players in Scandinavia with production and packing centres in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Estonia. In the coming years, the company will continue to invest in the development of eggs and egg products with a focus on new innovative egg and protein products. To cover the raw material needs, new egg producers are expected to join the company in the coming years.

Focus on plant-based foods In 2023, Danish Agro became the sole owner of DAVA Foods, and with the simplified ownership structure, the company can now benefit from the synergies with the Danish Agro Group's other companies to an even greater extent than before.

This applies, among other things, to plant-based foods, which is a strategic focus in the Danish Agro Group and an area that will be developed to constitute an even larger part of the business in the coming years.

With ownership all the way through the value chain - from seed development, collaboration with the farmer, production, sales and marketing, all the way to the consumer's shopping basket - the Danish Agro Group is uniquely positioned to support agriculture in the development of plant-based foods.

At DAVA Foods, plant-based foods are sold through the company DAVA Foods Ingredients, which has seen a positive development in revenue. In 2023, the company realised a 17% increase in revenue compared to last year, and the development is expected to continue in the coming years with a strong focus on innovation and marketing.

"We see great opportunities to grow both organically and through investments in new companies. We have a strong value chain and are thus well positioned for the consumer and food industry development we expect in the coming years," says Henning Haahr, referring to the group companies Nordic Seed, Danish Agro, DAVA Foods Ingredients and Organic Plant Protein, in which Danish Agro is a minority shareholder.

The goal is to increase the Group's sales of plant-based foods from less than EUR 13 million annually to more than EUR 40 million by 2026. To fulfil this goal, significant investments are being made in product and market development.

The focus of the development work is on legumes such as peas, broad beans and lupins, while work is also being done on completely new crops that will be added to the portfolio if they show good results. For example, crops such as quinoa, lentils and chickpeas are currently being tested in Danish conditions.

"It must be economically attractive for farmers to grow the crops that are used for plant-based foods. This requires development so that we can present consumers with products of the highest quality through cultivation, harvesting and subsequent handling," says Henning Haahr.