Kemin Industries Inc supplies specialty ingredients for several industries, including human/animal health and nutrition, pet food, agricultural,

nutritional Nutrition is the biochemical and physiological process by which an organism uses food to support its life. It provides organisms with nutrients, which can be metabolized to create energy and chemical structures. Failure to obtain sufficien ...

, food technologies, crop technologies, and textile industries. Established in 1961, Kemin Industries Inc is a privately held, family-owned-and-operated company with more than 2,800 global employees. It operates in 90 countries, and has manufacturing facilities in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Industries

List of industries served

* Animal nutrition and health *Pet food and rendering technologies *Food technologies *Human nutrition and health *Crop technologies *Textile auxiliaries *Aquaculture *Bio-fuel *Biologies

Company history

Kemin Industries Inc. was founded in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

, U.S.A. by R.W. Nelson and Mary Nelson. When the Nelsons started their business, they had five children under the age of seven and US$10,000 in a savings account. The company operated with two product lines, a manufacturing plant in an old wool barn, and Mary keeping the books at the family home. During the 1980s, led by Christopher E. Nelson, Ph.D., RW and Mary Nelson's oldest son and the current President and CEO of Kemin, scientists were challenged to study molecules and understand their modes of action inside living organisms. This new approach to research and development spurred the company's expansion into new markets. Kemin's ingredients expanded into animal health, nutraceuticals, pet food, food technologies, crop technologies, textiles, aquaculture and animal vaccines. In 1995, Kemin innovated lutein, a carotenoid molecule the company had been selling into the animal feed industry for years, for human use. This led to the establishment of Kemin's first business unit, Human Nutrition and Health. Kemin adopted the business unit-focused model for other expansion beyond animal nutrition and health into pet food and rendering technologies, food technologies, human nutrition and health and crop technologies and more. Kemin global expansion highlights include: * 1970 – Opened first regional headquarters in Herentals, Belgium. The sales and manufacturing facility allowed Kemin to efficiently work with customers across

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. * 1988 – Established second regional headquarters with sales and manufacturing facilities in

. * 1994 – Established sales office site in

Zhuhai, China Zhuhai (, ; Yale: ''Jyūhói''), also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern Guangdong province, People's Republic of China, on the southeastern edge of Pear ...

. * 1998 – Opened sales and manufacturing facilities in

Chennai, India Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Tamil Nadu, the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and territories of India, Indian state. The largest city ...

. * 2000 – Moved the Chennai manufacturing facilities to Gummidipundi, India. * 2002 – Established a manufacturing site in

. * 2004 – Purchased sales and manufacturing facility in Indaiatuba, Brazil. Opened sales and manufacturing facility in

Johannesburg, South Africa Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

. * 2009 – Opened second European manufacturing site in Veronella, Italy. * 2010 – Purchased encapsulation company and facility in Cavriago, Italy. * 2014 – Created new regional headquarters in

. * 2017 – Opened sales and manufacturing facility in Lipetsk, Russia. Acquired a beta-glucan manufacturing facility in

Plymouth, Michigan Plymouth is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, United States. The population was 9,370 at the 2020 census. The city of Plymouth is surrounded by Plymouth Township, but the two are administered autonomously. Plymouth is a western suburb of Metro ...

, U.S.A. * 2018 – Acquired Garmon Chemicals to launch Kemin's textile auxiliaries business unit in the

Republic of San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

. Launched the new business unit 'Kemin AquaScience' to serve the aquaculture industry. Kemin remains headquartered in

, U.S.A. with sales, research and manufacturing facilities. In 2017, Kemin opened a US$30 million worldwide headquarters building where the wool barn in which the company manufactured its first products once sat.

References

{{reflist Companies based in Iowa