Calvex…

Welcome to the project website. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 828708 and has ensured innovative collaborations throughout Calvex supply chain.

…Calvex is a growing business focusing on sustainable solutions to solve economic and health related issues in global dairy herd management. We provide natural methods to increase productivity and reduce the use of antibiotics.

is a growing business focusing on sustainable solutions to solve economic and health related issues in global dairy herd management. We provide natural methods to increase productivity and reduce the use of antibiotics.

Problem addressed: Dairy farm management is highly vulnerable to numerous diseases, representing a burden of > €3 billion globally. Feeding bacteria-free milkduring the early stages of the animal life is the best approach to decrease the spread of diseases and provide the best nutrients, which are not present in most of the milk replacers. However, to date this potential has not been fulfilled because the current technology to treat milk on-farm – Low Temperature Long Time (LTLT) batch pasteurizers – does not provide a positive business case for farmers nor disinfects the milk efficiently.

Solution: MilkGUARD fills the nutritional and safety gap in calf feeding during the calf first weeks of life. Our proprietary solution combines state of the art methods to kill bacteria in a new “cold” process that gently disinfects milk with 99.99% efficiency and 2 times higher energy and water efficient than LTLT systems. Calvex’s technology runs in a flow system with automatic cleaning for maximum usability.

MilkGUARD solution will significantly improvedairyfarms management performance by decreasing calf feeding costs in up to 77%, with a ROI of 1 year vs. LTLT systems and 44% savings vs. milk replacers in operating costs. It enables a 12 times faster milking-to-feeding process and a 4 times faster system cleaning (vs. LTLT systems) and a unique environmental performance. MilkGUARD’s bacteria-free milk will maximize the calves’ health and welfare, thereby increasing milk productivity, and reducing morbidity, mortality and antibiotics use.

Calvex / MilkGuard

Calvex was established in 1992 as a wholesale distribution business of dairy herd management products for the Danish market. Over the last 10 years Calvex has been developing its own proprietary portfolio for calves’ feeding and management products. In 2010 the company entered the global market, and nowadays it has a network of 72 dealers.

The first two months of the calf’s life are the most important – this is where the difference between success and failure is determined. Calvex’s proprietary portfolio include:

  • coloQuick – the first complete colostrum management system to foster calves’ survival during the first days of life. Product in the Danish market in 2008; EU and US in 2010; and Asia in 2012. Between 2015-2017, 845 systems where sold (70 in DK and 775 outside DK), generating more than €5 million revenues to Calvex.
  • coloGUARD – colostrum disinfection technology to improve colostrum management. The maturation of this product is being supported by national funds (Green Development and Demonstration Programme).
  • milkGUARD– milk disinfection technology to foster calves’ growth and productivity. The market maturation of milkGUARD under the H2020 SME Phase 2 project will enable Calvex to capture a much wider market application – milk-feeding during the first weeks of life.

All the data refers to farms with 150 cows

Mastitis costs > €3 billion/year in EU and US; Johnes’s disease costs €170 million/year in the US alone and salmonellosis costs €132 million/year in EU.

Market/Business model:

Calvex targets the €3.5 billion dairy herd management market, within which on-farm pasteurization has grown up to 35% in the last 10 years. Our global addressable market size is of approx. 90,000 dairy farms with + 100 cows. Our business model is based on B2C sales and rent of milkGUARD to farmers in DK, and B2B on EU, US, CA, CN, and RU, where Calvex dealers will sell the system. Two versions will be available: a 100L/h – for farms with up to 150 cows, and a 360L/h – for farms with +150 cows. With this two-tier market strategy, we expect to be able to capture up to 6% of the global market in 5 years.

Calvex has a strong relationship with a global network of 72 dealers and is seen as a trustworthy specialist in early nutrition of calves by customers. Supported by the commitment of our team (24 employees, approx. 25% in product development) to continuously innovate and be the number one choice of customers, Calvex has an unrivalled position on the market and knowledge animal welfare and user needs, which enabled us to develop milkGUARD.