Feed production company Nutreco and microbiome research company BiomEdit have entered a long-term research and commercial partnership to produce novel feed additives.
The collaboration, announced on 12 January, will combine BiomEdit’s microbiome science and “bioinformatics platform” with Nutreco’s feed to develop novel feed additives, providing benefits to animal feed in poultry, swine, cattle, and aquaculture. BiomEdit’s research focuses on the gut microbiome – the microbes that contribute to how foods are digested in the gastrointestinal tract and can impact the well-being of animals.
“Saying that microbiome science has created a buzz in the last decade is an understatement. However, practical applications of this scientific progress remain scarce,” Nutreco Chief Science Officer David Bravo said in a release. “Instead of focusing on microbiome composition and how to affect it, at Nutreco, we believe that mining the microbiome to find microbial functions that will benefit the animal’s physiology will unlock real sustainable progress for the welfare, health, and productivity of farm animals.”
Amersfoort, the Netherlands-based Nutreco and its subsidiary Skretting – a Norway-based feed and fingerling producer – are major producers of aquaculture products. Nutreco developed a “Sustainability RoadMap 2025” which led to the release of a responsible sourcing policy for its feed ingredients, separating the marine ingredients the company buys into categories based on sustainability.
Nutreco CEO Fulco van Lede said the new partnership fits into the company’s long-term strategy on sustainability.
“The partnership with BiomEdit fits perfectly into this longer-term strategy and underlines our commitment to the development of ultra-specialties. Today’s announcement will benefit all of Nutreco’s businesses: Skretting (aquaculture feed), and Trouw Nutrition (livestock feed) including, in particular, our feed-additives brand, Selko,” Lede said.
The partnership will help Nutreco leverage the microbiome technology BiomEdit is researching, and help solve some of the complex health challenges livestock face, BiomEdit CEO Aaron Schacht said.
“By leveraging BiomEdit’s advanced microbiome discovery platform and bench of deep experts together with Nutreco’s expertise and commercial deployment capabilities, we will launch novel feed additive products that address some of the most-important problems in animal health, sustainability, and food security,” Schacht said. “This broad strategic alliance with Nutreco is unique in our industry and plays to the strengths of both companies. Together, we will drive innovation and raise customer expectations for the impact of novel feed additives in livestock production systems.”
Photo courtesy of Nutreco