Marel : and Muyuan sign long-term strategic partnership to accelerate the transformation of China’s pork industry

• From 2020 to early 2022, Marel designed and delivered 11 state-of-the art greenfield projects to Muyuan focusing on primary processing of pork with enhanced operational efficiency, sustainability, and traceability. These projects leverage Marel's most advanced primary pork processing lines across multiple locations, including the revolutionary M-Line robots and Innova's Warehouse Management System, both improving speed and operational efficiency.
• Muyuan's vision is to have a fully integrated pork value chain from feed to consumer-ready products, and a long-term innovation and strategic partnership with Marel will turn this vision into a reality. This includes investing further in primary processing and expanding secondary processing focusing on retail-ready products fitting local consumer preferences across China.
• Marel and Muyuan share a commitment to accelerate the next phase in food processing transformation in China, driven by automation, digitalization, and sustainability with a continued focus on traceability and food safety. This innovation and strategic partnership agreement was signed by both parties in Nanyang, Henan province in July 2023.

Qin Muyuan, President of Muyuan Meat; Árni Oddur Þórðarson, CEO of Marel

"We look forward to continuing our transformative partnership with Muyuan and taking it to the next level. Together we will bring new technologies and solutions to the Chinese market and create pork products that are safe, affordable and of high-quality. By combining our strengths, we will drive more automation, digitalization, and sustainability within pork processing in China." said Arni Oddur Thordarson, Chief Executive Officer at Marel.

"We are expanding our footprint along the pork value chain, and Marel is the perfect partner to help us transform. Marel is committed to sustainable innovation and providing a reliable local supply chain and services to the market in China. Our intelligent systems in feeding and breeding, combined with Marel's innovation power focusing on processing high-quality pork that is produced in a sustainable way will play a big role in this strategic partnership." said Qin Muyuan, President of Muyuan Meat.

China is the world's largest consumer and producer of pork, accounting for 50% of global production. Alongside the high demand, there is an increasing consumer focus on quality, food safety and traceability. The pork market in China is currently undergoing a regulatory transformation aimed at improving quality and standards thereby encouraging further consolidation. Marel's product portfolio is designed with the highest food safety measures in mind, and its digital platform enables traceability from farm to fork (or chopsticks), providing a high level of customer and consumer confidence. Convenience is also shaping consumption patterns in China with consumers seeking prepared products.

"Marel and Muyuan have built a partnership based on trust and I am excited that we can grow together over the coming years. We know each other well and we are both committed to increase food safety, quality, and convenience in China. Our global know-how teamed with our local expertise in China will give power to this partnership" said Sofie Cammers, Executive Vice President of Marel Meat.

"Marel has built a good local presence in China, with over 100 employees backed by our strong global team working across 30 countries. We recently opened our Demo Center in Shanghai, a state-of-the-art facility where we innovate and co-create new solutions with our domestic customers. Our team looks forward to the exciting journey that lies ahead with Muyuan." said Denver Lu, Managing Director in China.

Muyuan Foods Co., Ltd. was established in 1992 with a vision to "serve people with safe pork to help them enjoy a richer life". Muyuan was listed in Shenzhen Stock Exchange Market in 2014. In 2022 Muyuan had an operating revenue of CNY 124.8 billion (17.6 billion EUR), a YOY increase of 58%. Muyuan is developing an integrated pork industry chain from feed to consumer-ready products with a mission of producing safe and healthy pork products with high quality. Muyuan works closely with domestic and international industry leading experts to accelerate the company's advancement in production technology and enterprise management and has achieved very strong results. The company's headquarters are in Neixiang City of Henan province.

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