Business update: New products and feed mills

New aquafeed factory in Eastern Africa

A new aquafeed factory for Unga Holdings Ltd in Nairobi, Kenya has been opened. The new feed plant is designed to produce 5,000 tons per year of high quality floating fish feed for the East African Market. It is the first establishment of this size in East Africa, that will responds to the high demand for fish feed. With the new plant Unga Farms creates the opportunity for local fish farmers to increase their output and lower their productions costs per kg. For the design of the plant Unga Holdings cooperated intensively with Dutch companies; Ottevanger Milling Engineers, Almex – Extrusion, Nutreco/Skretting and Larive International. The companies work together in the Dutch Public-Private partnership program, FoodTechAfrica (FTA).

Evonik launches probiotic in Asia

Evonik is to expand its portfolio in Asia with the probiotic Ecobiol®. The product was launched at the recently held VIV Asia in Bangkok. The product is designed for the use in poultry production and aquaculture. The product was acquired by Evonik from the Spanish company Norel SA in 2016. Evonik intends to assume a leading role in the field of sustainable and antibiotic-free livestock management. In addition to the products Fecinor® and Ecobiol from Norel SA, Evonik has recently enlarged its product line with GutCare® PY1, the first own developed probiotic. In January 2017,GutCare PY1 was introduced in the U.S. market with other countries to follow.

BioMar to build feed factory in Australia

Underlining the expansion strategy of the company, the BioMar Group announced the construction of a feed factory in Australia. BioMar is already cooperating with local state government building the required foundation for approval. The aim is to be able to serve the customers, being locally agile with a solid foundation of global product development and technical experience within species such as salmon, trout and yellow tail king fish. The plant will have a capacity of 110.000 tons of fish feed and will open in 2019.

Dicosan: a new source of MCFA

Norel SA has launched Dicosan, composed by sodium salts of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA). The product, based on coconut fatty acid distillates, contains high levels of lauric acid, an active molecule with 12 carbons, effective against Clostridium perfringens, Salmonella and other pathogenic bacteria. In a recent trial, the product tended to decrease Salmonella Typhimurium caecal counts and significantly reduced the number of positive weaning piglets challenged with this pathogen. Results suggest specific antibacterial effect of MCFA sodium salts in the intestinal lumen that helped to control the overgrowth of this pathogenic bacteria.

ISO accreditation for Alltech’s European mycotoxin lab

The Alltech 37+® mycotoxin analytical services laboratory in Dunboyne, County Meath, Ireland, was accredited in accordance with the international standard ISO/IEC 17025:2005 from Perry Johnson Laboratory Accreditation, Inc. This objective, third-party assessment distinguishes the managerial and technical requirements of the lab and ensures the accuracy and impartiality of analytical results. The European Alltech 37+ mycotoxin laboratory, which opened in April 2016, is the third of its kind for Alltech, which has two similar laboratories in the US and China.