With an investment of R$ 55 million, GFS is expanding Poligrow® production in Apucarana, Paraná, and now runs the largest natural fiber plant in Latin America.
The new plant
GFS opened its new manufacturing unit in Apucarana, Paraná, on September 9, built with its own funds earmarked for infrastructure, research and development. With the expansion, Poligrow® production capacity jumps from 300 to 4,500 metric tons per month.
The site was chosen strategically to serve as the company’s logistics hub. According to Fernando Blini, CEO of GFS, the location speeds up the receipt of raw materials and the distribution of products to the main meat-producing and feed-consuming states in the South, Southeast and Center-West of Brazil.
At the new unit, GFS is also stepping up production of natural fibers, another of its product lines. Extracted from reforestation wood, this fiber source improves nutrient absorption in animal diets, supports weight gain and reduces medication costs.
Today, specialized fiber is used in only 25% of swine production in Brazil, but adoption is clearly growing. With capacity expanded to 1,600 metric tons per month, GFS’s agro-industrial complex in Apucarana becomes the largest natural fiber plant in the Americas.
What is Poligrow®?
Poligrow® is GFS’s patented technology that optimizes calcium and phosphorus absorption in poultry and swine diets and reduces the need to add phosphate to feed, which in turn lowers CO2 emissions. Emissions fall because the process eliminates the extraction of phosphorus from nature: Poligrow® is built on a renewable molecule.
The technology is based on omega 3, 6 and 9 oils. According to Luciano Andriguetto, CDO of GFS, instead of increasing purchases of phosphate, a mineral input, it makes better use of the phosphorus already in the diet. It also contributes to better feed conversion and weight gain, saving between R$ 20 and R$ 30 per ton of feed.
For every 1 kg of product, 7.89 kg of phosphate stay in the ground, and every ton of phosphate that is not mined avoids 1.21 tons of CO2 equivalent.
