Deep Dive - 31 Years ASF-Free, Then 155 Cases in 90 Days: Spain's Outbreak Rewires Global Pork Trade
Spain's first African Swine Fever outbreak in 31 years has knocked the EU's largest pork producer off its export stride, creating a window of opportunity for US exporters.
The situation remains far more contained than the 2018 China catastrophe. As of February 13, 2026, 155 wild boar have tested positive across six municipalities near Barcelona, yet zero domestic pig herds are infected. The critical question: whether containment holds through the March–April breeding season, or whether this becomes a cascading European crisis.
What’s Inside:
DSM-Firmenich Sells Animal Nutrition Unit to CVC for €3.7 Billion, Completing Consumer Pivot
U.S.-Taiwan Reciprocal Trade Agreement Eliminates Tariffs on American Beef, Pork, and Dairy
JBS Acquires 80% Stake in Omani Food Holding, Investing $150 Million in Multi-Protein Production
CDCB-University of Minnesota Research Confirms Heritable Basis for Dairy Cow Lameness Using GEA CattleEye Data
Pilgrim's Pride Reports $18.5 Billion in 2025 Revenue with 12.3% Adjusted EBITDA Margin
DSM-Firmenich Sells Animal Nutrition Unit to CVC for €3.7 Billion, Completing Consumer Pivot
CVC Capital Partners acquires dsm-firmenich's €3.5 billion-revenue Animal Nutrition & Health business at 10x EV/EBITDA, splitting it into two standalone entities for premix/solutions and essential vitamins, while the seller retains 20% equity and €565 million in financing commitments. The structured exit, following the 2025 sale of Feed Enzymes to Novonesis for €1.5 billion, removes the last cyclical commodity-exposed segment from dsm-firmenich's portfolio, repositioning the group for consumer-grade margins and multiples in nutrition, fragrance, and beauty. CVC's plan to operate two separate companies signals a likely medium-term strategy of building each to scale through bolt-on acquisitions before independent exits, intensifying private equity competition in feed additives against BASF and Evonik.
U.S.-Taiwan Reciprocal Trade Agreement Eliminates Tariffs on American Beef, Pork, and Dairy
JBS partnered with the Oman Investment Authority's food arm to build a 300,000-tonne-per-year processing hub for poultry, beef, and lamb, representing the company's first upstream investment in the Middle East and its largest regional commitment to date. The move accelerates a broader shift by global protein companies toward in-market production in the Gulf, where sovereign food security mandates under programs like Oman Vision 2040 increasingly require local processing as a condition of market relevance. Combined with JBS's recent $85 million Saudi Arabia expansion and BRF's parallel joint venture with the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the Gulf is consolidating into a three-way contest among Brazilian processors for halal supply chain dominance.
JBS Acquires 80% Stake in Omani Food Holding, Investing $150 Million in Multi-Protein Production
JBS partnered with the Oman Investment Authority's food arm to build a 300,000-tonne-per-year processing hub for poultry, beef, and lamb, representing the company's first upstream investment in the Middle East and its largest regional commitment to date. The move accelerates a broader shift by global protein companies toward in-market production in the Gulf, where sovereign food security mandates under programs like Oman Vision 2040 increasingly require local processing as a condition of market relevance. Combined with JBS's recent $85 million Saudi Arabia expansion and BRF's parallel joint venture with the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the Gulf is consolidating into a three-way contest among Brazilian processors for halal supply chain dominance.
CDCB-University of Minnesota Research Confirms Heritable Basis for Dairy Cow Lameness Using GEA CattleEye Data
Joint research between the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding and the University of Minnesota, enabled by millions of AI-generated mobility scores from GEA's CattleEye video system, establishes for the first time at scale that lameness in dairy cattle is heritable enough to support genetic selection. This converts what has been a recurring per-cow cost of $350 to $400 annually, borne through treatment and lost productivity, into a trait that can be bred out of herds within three to five generations.
Pilgrim's Pride Reports $18.5 Billion in 2025 Revenue with 12.3% Adjusted EBITDA Margin
JBS-controlled Pilgrim's Pride delivered a second consecutive year of adjusted EBITDA margins above 12%, posting $2.3 billion in operating earnings while returning $2 billion to shareholders through special dividends at sub-1.1x net leverage. The margin profile reflects a structural shift in the business toward branded and prepared foods: the Just Bare brand crossed $1 billion in retail sales, and U.S. Prepared Foods revenue grew over 20% year-on-year, reducing the company's exposure to commodity fresh chicken price cycles. Planned 2026 capital expenditures of $900 million to $950 million, including a new prepared foods facility in Georgia and deboning conversions, signal management's intent to lock in the value-added mix shift before competitors replicate it.