Poultry feed: dsm-firmenich secures EU approval for new enzyme technology

05 Apr 2024 --- Nutrition company dsm-firmenich and its alliance partner Novonesis have received EU regulatory approval for their poultry feed protease, ProAct 360. Following the approval, ProAct 360 will now be available to feed and poultry producers for use in all fattening poultry and chickens reared for laying and breeding. 

ProAct 360 was initially launched in Latin America in June 2021 and in the US in November 2022. The partners describe it as the only second-generation protease developed specifically for the feed industry, representing new enzyme technology that benefits the poultry industry in terms of feed efficiency, affordability and sustainability.

“The issue of EU regulatory approval for ProAct 360 promises significant benefits for poultry farmers in this region,” says Adam Smith, feed optimization marketing and business development manager at dsm-firmenich Animal Nutrition & Health.

“It underlines the dsm-firmenich and Novonesis alliance’s commitment to providing value-adding, sustainable solutions for the global feed and animal protein industry.”

Industry challenges
A new Rabobank report revealed that the global poultry market will recover after a weak second half of 2023, but geopolitical tensions causing distribution challenges will remain an issue.

European poultry producers must contend with many other factors, including fluctuating ingredient prices, genetic evolution, intestinal health considerations, welfare requirements and sustainability demands to remain profitable in a competitive market.

According to dsm-firmenich and Novonesis, the effective management of protein uptake is key to successfully navigating these challenges.The partners say the EU approval for ProAct 360 promises significant benefits for poultry farmers in this region.

ProAct 360 breaks down protein faster across a broad range of feed ingredients, delivers greater digestibility of all amino acids and better degrades anti-nutritional factors, leading to improved consistency of response and higher return on investment.

The product also permits the formulation of lower-protein diets with a reduced proportion of soybean meal by improving the efficiency of protein absorption in the small intestine, reducing the environmental impact of poultry production while contributing to improved intestinal health and animal welfare.

Digital solutions
ProAct 360 also comes equipped with a set of value-added digital services, ranging from raw material analysis to a sustainability calculator, that enables deeper insights and more informed decision-making for poultry operations.

Similarly, dsm-firmenich is piloting a poultry farming data platform with agricultural cooperative Agrifirm to drive more responsible and transparent production. By combining dsm-firmenich’s life cycle assessment (LCA) model, Sustell, and Agrifirm’s Poultry Next, a data platform for poultry production performance insights, will offer a differentiated solution for transparent and responsible poultry production.

“The Sustell platform is a user-friendly SaaS system that is used to calculate feed and farm environmental footprints precisely. Sustell uses real-time data for LCAs, which is constantly updated and improved to meet the evolving needs of animal protein producers and the wider industry,” Dr. David Nickell, VP of Sustainability & Business Solutions at dsm-firmenich, tells Food Ingredients First.

“This pilot presents farmers with the opportunity to transform feed and farm data into sustainability insights that not only lead to an improvement in the environmental footprint of the animal protein production but also aids farmers in identifying efficiency gains that lead to increased profitability.”

“This opens the door to farm advisory services not only to increase transparency but also to unlock new market opportunities for the wider value chain.”

By Joshua Poole

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