Animal Feed
Interviews with Trouw Nutrition and with Neosci
Adam Banaszak, General Manager, Trouw Nutrition APAC
Could you introduce Trouw [Trɑʊ]?
Trouw Nutrition is part of Nutreco, one of the top 10 feed manufacturers in the world. Trouw Nutrition Asia Pacific Export is a specialty business within animal nutrition and deals with feed additives and young animal feeds concentrating on solutions such as unique blends of buffered- and non-buffered organic acids that can be applied in the feed for gut health and digestion improvement, as well as organic acids used in feed safety (anti-salmonella, anti-mold, anti-toxins). We also supply a range of trace minerals under the brand name of Optimin, which is our organic trace minerals, and IntelliBond, our unique hydroxy trace minerals.
How has Trouw Nutrition performed in the last financial year and what are the main trends you observe today?
2022 was a challenging year for the entire industry, inflation putting a damper on the entire value chain and ultimately reflecting in higher retail prices for food products. This year, the market seems to be stabilizing, as lower freight rates and energy prices have alleviated some of the cost pressures in the supply chain. We had a stable 2022, but not in line with our growth expectations. We have seen growth returning strongly in 2023 and we hope this continues throughout the year.
What is your growth strategy in Asia moving forward?
We want to help livestock producers and feed millers across the region by introducing our technology through our products and services, primarily to increase efficiency but also to make their businesses sustainable.
Charttrawat (Tony) Apinyapanich, CMO, Neosci
Could you introduce Neosci?
We started the company in 2011, after recognizing that the Thai livestock industry was overusing antibiotics. I found European partners with a good stock of antibiotic replacements and created Neosci as a distributor of French and Spanish alternative plant-based solutions. One of the first products we brought to Thailand was Sodium Butyrate. This is a small molecule, a four-carbon acid, which can be used as an energy source for the ileum in the small intestine, creating a strong barrier for bacteria. Used preventatively as an additive to replace antibiotic growth promoters (which are used in low dosage throughout the life of an animal), sodium butyrate allows animals to live healthier lives without developing antibiotic resistance, which would then be transferred to humans through meat consumption. Neosci also brings a secret technology that bypasses the stomach acid so that the product can be absorbed at the intestine level, whereas many alternative products from other producers are dissolved in the stomach and unable to reach target organs. It was a hard sell for the first couple of years, but we managed to eventually gain the trust of customers.
Today, the spread of the ASF virus in the region is radically changing the mentality of livestock growers. The ASF outbreak has caused many small to medium-sized farmers to disappear from the market, leading to a shift in our customer base. The surviving farms are bigger, more professional, and have experienced consultants from universities and large companies.
What is your growth vision for Neosci?
We want to expand this concept to surrounding countries. If we look at the level of antibiotic consumption in livestock industries in countries like Laos, Myanmar, or Cambodia, they are where Thailand used to be 10 years ago. We want to educate people on the long-term consequences of relying on antibiotics, and how it affects their health and that of future generations.