Aphasol is part of the Damaco Group

AphasolTM is a registered brand of the Damaco Group, an international holding of companies specialised in the production and trading of high-quality products in the food & feed industry.

Damaco Group’s roots are in poultry: grown from the establishment of Kipco in 1964, the Damaco Group has become a reference and global player in the industry. Today, the group is active in 3 domains:

  • food processing: poultry meat
  • food distribution: meat and potato products, vegetables, convenience products and fish & seafood
  • nutrient science: the valorisation of poultry by-products, which includes the Aphasol agro product line, alongside petfood, aquafeed and others.

Damaco Group processes 700 tons/day of raw materials. Learn more about the Damaco Group.

“Our focus has evolved: from product to solution, from selling to stimulating growth for our customers. But whatever the future brings, one thing will never change: our pioneering drive.”

Iris & Bruno Vandaele
Managing Directors Damaco Group

Our history

the 70's
First amino acids in agriculture

The first mention of "biogenic stimulants" in scientific literatures dates from the thirties. In the seventies, the first amino acid biostimulants were produced and sold for the agricultural market.

2007
Start of R&D into protein hydrolysates

In 2007, Damaco Group initiates R&D into poultry protein hydrolysates in collaboration with Italian and Russian universities and with support from the European Commission.

2013 - 2015
A new production facility

In 2013, we started with the construction of a new facility in Dendermonde, dedicated to the production of protein hydrolysates. Production  of the first hydrolysates starts in 2015.

 

2016
The first Aphasol experiments

In 2016, we initiated the first experiments with an early version of the Aphasol amino acid biostimulant on plants.

2018
A long-term collaboration with Ghent University

2018 marked the start of our collaboration with the University of Ghent, with the first Aphasol lab tests to identify the active ingredients and analyse the specific biostimulating effects.

2019
Aphasol field trials

In 2019, we conducted the first field trials on row crops, with convincing results.

2020
Establishment of Stam Agro NV

Stam Agro was established in 2020 as Damaco's dedicated "nutrient science" R&D division, responsible for the further development of Aphasol. The number of Aphasol field and farm trials increased exponentially.

2021
Launch on the Belgian market

The Aphasol brand was launched at the end of 2021, after another successful trial season.

2021 also marked the start of a € 1.3 million VLAIO research project in collaboration with Ghent University to further develop and extend the Aphasol product line.

2022
Towards exponential growth

Impressive 2022 sales figures are fully reinvested in further research and continued growth.

A total of 20 trials by expert research centers is complemented by more than 50 farm trials. All spread over a dozen of crops on 2 continents.

2023
We continue our journey

2023 marks the start of our internationalisation. With registrations in several European countries and doubling of the number of crop trials.