Japan’s leading dairy group, Megmilk is partnering with Singapore’s agri business firm, Agrocorp International to build a factory in Malaysia to manufacture plant-based dairy ingredients.
The facility will produce pea-based ingredients to sell to plant-based manufacturers, and for use in a consumer brand marketed by Agrocorp. Production will officially commence in late 2025.
The JV called Agro Snow will be based in Singapore with a build-up capital of US$21 million, with Agrocorp holding 51% stake and Megmilk the remainder.
For Megmilk, the joint-venture (JV) is part of its latest medium-term plan to venture into plant-based food. A Megmilk spokesperson said the new JV will initially sell the ingredients on a B2B basis but it sees future opportunities to launch its own consumer products possibly via collaboration with Japanese food processing manufacturers. He added that the JV will also own the exclusive rights to sell the plant-based food raw materials manufactured by the company to the Japanese market.
One of the first customers for the new facility will be Agrocorp for its plant-based brand HerbYvore which utilizes pea protein as its protein source. HerbYvore is addressing the gap in dairy-free cheeses and will launch Singapore’s first plant-based, nut-free cheese range in August this year.
