We are a global developer and producer of sustainable natural ingredients
from edible and inedible bio-nutrients, creating a wide range of ingredients
and customized specialty solutions for customers in the pharmaceutical, food,
pet food, feed, technical, fuel, bioenergy and fertilizer industries. With operations
on five continents, the Company collects and transforms all aspects of animal
by-product streams into useable and specialty ingredients, such as gelatin,
edible fats, feed-grade fats, animal proteins and meals, plasma, pet food ingredients,
organic fertilizers, yellow grease, fuel feedstocks, green energy, natural casings
and hides. The Company also recovers and converts used cooking oil and commercial
bakery residuals into valuable feed and fuel ingredients. In addition, the Company
provides grease trap services to food establishments and environmental services
to food processors, and also sells restaurant cooking oil delivery and collection
equipment.
We are a leading provider of animal by-product processing, used cooking oil
and bakery residual recycling and recovery solutions to the U.S. food industry.
We operate over 130 processing and transfer facilities in the United States
to produce finished products such as protein (primarily meat and bone meal (“MBM”)
and poultry meal (“PM”)), fats (primarily bleachable fancy tallow
(“BFT”), poultry grease (“PG”) and yellow grease (“YG”)),
bakery by-products (“BBP”) and hides, as well as a range of branded
and value-added products. Darling sells these products in North America and
throughout the world, primarily to producers of animal feed, pet food, biodiesel,
fertilizer and other consumer and industrial ingredients, including oleo-chemicals,
soaps and leather goods, for use as ingredients in their products or for further
processing. Rothsay is a leading recycler of animal by-products and producer
of biodiesel in Canada. Rothsay processes raw materials into finished fat and
protein products for use in animal feed, pet food, biodiesel, fertilizer and
other ingredients and manufactures biodiesel for domestic and international
markets. Rothsay has a network of five rendering plants in Manitoba, Ontario
and Nova Scotia and a biodiesel operation in Quebec.
Darling Ingredients International, our subsidiary is a worldwide leader in
the development and production of specialty ingredients from animal by-products
for applications in animal feed, pet food, fuel, bioenergy, fertilizer, food
and pharmaceuticals. Darling Ingredients International operates a global network
of 67 production facilities across five continents covering all aspects of animal
by-product processing through six brands: Rendac (fuel), Sonac (proteins, fats,
edible fats and blood products), Ecoson (bioenergy and fertilizer), Rousselot
(gelatin), CTH (natural casings) and Best Hides (hides and skins). Darling Ingredients
International’s specialized portfolio of over 350 products covers all
animal origin raw material types and thereby offers a comprehensive, single
source solution for suppliers. Darling Ingredients International’s business
has leading positions across Europe with operations in the Netherlands, Belgium,
Germany, Poland and Italy under the Rendac and Sonac brand names. Value-added
products include edible fats, blood products, bone products, protein meals and
fats. Rousselot is a global leading market provider of gelatin for the food,
pharmaceutical and technical industries with operations in Europe, the United
States, South America and China. CTH is a leading natural casings company for
the sausage industry with operations in Europe, China and the United States.
Commencing with the first quarter of 2014, the Companys business operations
were reorganized into three new reportable operating segments: Feed Ingredients,
Food Ingredients and Fuel Ingredients. This change was necessitated by the VION
Acquisition and aligns the Companys operations based on the products and services
offered to various end markets. All historical periods reported prior to fiscal
2014 herein have been restated to conform to the new reportable operating segment
structure; however, none of the Company’s historic operations fall within
the Food Ingredients operating segment and therefore there is no comparable
financial information for the Food Ingredients operating segment for periods
prior to fiscal 2014.
The Feed Ingredients operating segment includes the Companys global activities
related to (i) the collection and processing of beef, poultry and pork animal
by-products in North America and Europe into non-food grade oils and protein
meals, (ii) the collection and processing of bakery residuals in North America
into Cookie Meal®, which is predominantly used in poultry and swine rations,
(iii) the collection and processing of used cooking oil in North America into
non-food grade fats, as well as the production and sale of a variety of cooking
oil collection delivery systems, (iv) the collection and processing of bovine,
porcine and bovine blood in China, Europe, North America and Australia into
blood plasma powder and hemoglobin, (v) the processing of cattle hides and hog
skins in North America and Europe, (vi) the production of organic fertilizers
using protein produced from the Company’s animal by-products processing
activities in North America and Europe, and (vii) the provision of grease trap
services to food service establishments and environmental services to food processors.
Non-food grade oils and fats produced and marketed by the Company are principally
sold to third parties to be used as ingredients in animal feed and pet food,
as an ingredient for the production of biodiesel and renewable diesel, or to
the oleo-chemical industry to be used as an ingredient in a wide variety of
industrial applications. Protein meals produced and marketed by the Company
are sold to third parties to be used as ingredients in animal feed, pet food
and aquaculture. Blood plasma powder and hemoglobin produced and marketed by
the Company are sold to third parties to be used as ingredients in animal feed,
pet food and aquaculture.
The Food Ingredients operating segment includes the Companys global activities
related to (i) the collection and processing of beef and pork bone chips, beef
hides, pig skins, and fish skins into gelatin and hydrolyzed collagen in Europe,
China, South America and North America, (ii) the collection and processing of
porcine and bovine intestines into natural casings in Europe, China and North
America, (iii) the extraction and processing of porcine mucosa into crude heparin
in Europe, (iv) the collection and refining of animal fat into food grade fat
in Europe, and (v) the processing of bones to bone chips for the gelatin industry
and bone ash. Gelatins produced and marketed by the Company are sold to third
parties to be used as ingredients in the pharmaceutical, nutriceutical, food,
and technical (e.g., photographic) industries. Natural casings produced and
marketed by the Company are sold to third parties to be used as an ingredient
in the production of sausages and other similar food products.
The Fuel Ingredients operating segment includes the Companys global activities
related to (i) the conversion of animal fats and recycled greases into biodiesel
in North America, (ii) the conversion of organic sludge and food waste into
biogas in Europe, (iii) the collection and conversion of fallen stock and certain
animal by-products pursuant to applicable E.U. regulations into low-grade energy
sources to be used in industrial applications, (iv) commencing in the second
quarter of 2014, the processing of manure into natural bio-phosphate in Europe,
and (v) the Company’s share of the results of its equity investment in
Diamond Green Diesel Holdings LLC, a joint venture with Valero Energy Corporation
(“Valero”) to convert animal fats, recycled greases, used cooking
oil, inedible corn oil, soybean oil, or other feedstocks that become economically
and commercially viable into renewable diesel (the “DGD Joint Venture”)
as described in Note 7 to the Companys Consolidated Financial Statement for
the period ended January 2, 2016 included herein.