Dispatches from SPACE 2017
Roquette investing in resources for feed market growth
“In order to meet the needs and expectations of our customers in the European area, our animal nutrition team has been recently expanded,” said Pierre Linder, business developer, Roquette.
We caught up with him at the French agricultural trade show, SPACE, in Rennes earlier this month.
“We now have a strengthened commercial network in France and in Europe and a dedicated marketing team to listen to the feed market,” he said.
The animal nutrition division at Roquette includes technical support, analytical labs, quality and product management, regulatory affairs and innovation centers for the tracking of animal production trends, he explained.
He said this gives the business a broad view of where the feed industry is going, and how best to optimize feed manufacture, taking into account factory capabilities and constraints.
“We see growing opportunities for the feed specialties segment over the next few years, for new products for piglets, juvenile aqua feed or for larvae feeding - organic acids like gluconic acid for piglets or Chlorella for juvenile aqua feed or for larvae feeding.
“We have many key ingredients in the pipeline.”
“Our approach to the feed market goes as follows. We subdivide into feed specialties – calf milk or starter feed for piglets, for example – where we sell our classical portfolio of starch and starch derivatives inclusive of dextrose and sorbitol. Then there is our compound feed business, combined with aqua and pet food, where we sell proteins and fibers.”
Antibiotic substitutes
In terms of industry drivers, he said feed specialties must become as good as antibiotics over the coming decade to address the increasing industry shift away from medicated feed.
“Today, we are in a world where any problem is solved by antibiotics, but this [approach to livestock production] in Europe will, in our opinion, disappear.”
Appropriate feeding, he said, will reduce stress and digestive disorders, and eliminate the need for prophylactic application of antibiotics in animal production.
The right nutrition in terms of digestibility, purity and quality, particularly during stressful periods like weaning or the post-natal phase, should reduce incidences of diarrhea and support growth, he added.
“We see growing opportunities for the feed specialties segment over the next few years, for new products for piglets, juvenile aqua feed or for larvae feeding - organic acids like gluconic acid for piglets or Chlorella for juvenile aqua feed or for larvae feeding.
“We have many key ingredients in the pipeline.”
