Darling Ingredients Inc (NYSE: DAR) is a global rendering and bio-nutrient recycling company that collects and processes animal by-products, used cooking oil, and bakery residuals into specialty ingredients and fuel feedstocks. It makes money by charging collection fees from food industry suppliers and selling finished products, including fats, proteins, collagen, gelatin, biodiesel feedstocks, and fertilizers, to customers across pharmaceutical, food, pet food, animal feed, fuel, and fertilizer industries. In fiscal year 2025 (ended January 3, 2026), the company generated $6.1 billion in total net revenues across three segments: Feed Ingredients ($3.99B, 65% of net sales), Food Ingredients ($1.55B, 25%), and Fuel Ingredients ($601M, 10%). The company operates over 150 processing and transfer facilities in the United States and has operations on five continents. Randall C. Stuewe serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, with Robert W. Day as Chief Financial Officer.
- Revenue model
- Transactional revenue from selling rendered finished products (animal proteins, edible and feed-grade fats, collagen, gelatin, yellow grease, fuel feedstocks, natural casings, organic fertilizers) and from grease trap collection and environmental services fees charged to food service establishments. Finished products are sold globally through in-house commodity trading departments and, in some cases, through brokers and agents.
- Products and services
- Finished products include collagen (Rousselot, Gelnex brands), gelatin, natural casings (CTH brand), animal proteins and meals, edible fats, feed-grade fats, plasma, pet food ingredients, yellow grease, organic fertilizers, fuel feedstocks, and agriculture-based biofuels. Specialty ingredients are marketed under the Dar Pro Ingredients, Sonac, and FASA brands. The company also provides grease trap collection and disposal services to food service establishments and processes bakery residuals into feed ingredients. Diamond Green Diesel Holdings LLC is a joint venture producing renewable diesel.
- Customers and end markets
- End markets include pharmaceutical, food processing, pet food, animal feed, industrial, renewable fuel, bioenergy, and fertilizer industries. Raw material suppliers include slaughterhouses, grocery stores, butcher shops, and food service establishments. No single customer concentration disclosed in the excerpts.
- Value-chain role
- Midstream processor and recycler sitting between food production waste streams (slaughterhouses, grocery stores, food service) and downstream manufacturers in feed, food, pharma, and fuel industries. Collects raw bio-nutrients, processes them through grinding, cooking, separating, drying, and blending, and sells finished specialty ingredients and fuel feedstocks globally.
- Geographic exposure
- Operations on five continents. North American operations managed from corporate headquarters in Irving, Texas, and a regional office in Cold Spring, Kentucky. International operations managed through Darling Ingredients International, headquartered in Son en Breugel, the Netherlands, with offices in Europe, Asia, South America, and North America. Processing facilities span the United States, Canada, Brazil, Netherlands, Poland, China, and other countries per fiscal year 2025 (ended January 3, 2026) disclosures.
