Challenges and new trends in poultry industry

The event with the title of “Challenges in poultry production: Outlook on current and future industry trends and solutions” was held by Biochem in Istanbul in May. We met with Dr. Alexander Grafe, General Manager, and Ugur Kumbet, Regional Sales Director IMEA, and talked about the challenges facing the poultry industry, especially in the IMEA region. When it comes to poultry farming, naturally, our conversation focused on two issues: use of antibiotics and feed costs…

Dr. Alexander Grafe
General Manager
Biochem
Ugur Kumbet
Regional Sales Director
Biochem

Interview: Muhammed Akatay & Derya Yildiz
Biochem, one of the global players of the animal nutrition and feed additives industry, hosted the representatives of the poultry industry in India, Middle East and Africa (IMEA) region in Istanbul in May. The main topic of the event was “Challenges in poultry production: Outlook on current and future industry trends and solutions”. Most important agenda items in recent years that have heavily affected the animal nutrition industry, from the pandemic to the Russia-Ukraine war, from raw material supply problems to feed prices, and from animal diseases to sustainability, were discussed at the event, which was attended by nearly 150 poultry industry representatives from 25 countries. On the occasion of this event, we had the opportunity to have a short conversation with Dr. Alexander Grafe, one of Biochem’s general managers, and Ugur Kumbet, Regional Sales Director IMEA, on both the regional event in question and the challenges and trends of the poultry industry. Antibiotics use and raw material supply problems, which are important problems from a regional point of view, became the key topics of our interview.

First of all, can we start with the purpose of today’s seminar? What is the purpose and objective of this meeting in Turkey?
Dr. Alexander Grafe: Because of the pandemic, we could not get together with our colleagues and business partners for a long time. The first purpose of this meeting was to come together with our colleagues and create the opportunity to meet face to face again. As you know, we are going through an extremely difficult process on a global scale. On the one hand, the pandemic that has affected the whole world, on the other hand, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war… The animal nutrition sector, due to both crises, faces serious problems with the supply of raw materials and pricing. Added to this are changing consumer demands and expectations.

Ugur Kumbet: Although the internet has become an extremely valuable and remarkable means of communication in this process, the effect of face-to-face communication is always different. That is why this event in Turkey is so important for us. We wanted to use this opportunity to experience Istanbul and to share our ideas in a multicultural atmosphere. Here, we first brought our own international team together. In this way, we not only had the opportunity to meet our newest team members, whom we recruited through online interviews, but also strengthened their communication by establishing a good rapprochement between our colleagues. The same goes for our business partners. We wanted to take this opportunity to strengthen our business relationships and to share our experiences, visions and knowledge.

Can you tell us a little about the participants of the event? Who attended your event and what did you convey to them during the seminar?
Ugur Kumbet: We hosted representatives of the poultry industry from 25 countries in the India, Middle East and Africa (IMEA) region. We had about 150 participants from different fields of the sector, ranging from feed producers to animal nutrition specialists, from meat and egg producers to veterinarians and consultants.

During the meeting, we shared information on very critical issues, ranging from intestinal health to raw material quality, from alternative protein sources to feed prices, from respiratory health to trace minerals. We have put our proven concepts in this context: With products such as our new-generation probiotic or our glycinated trace minerals, to name just a few, we can address these issues and of course wanted to take the opportunity to present our latest technical updates.

So, if we continue with your seminar title, what are the challenges encountered in poultry production today?
Ugur Kumbet: Currently the biggest problem which we see in the industry is the cost factor. The global situation of raw material shortage and sharp price increases is exceptional. Even though we are hopeful that this situation will eventually normalize again, and prices will stabilize at reasonable levels, cost optimization is currently more important than ever.

Dr. Alexander Grafe: My personal view is that we should use our resources in the world very carefully and responsibly because they are not infinite. Therefore, no matter which raw material or which feed additive we use, the main thing is to balance them correctly. This applies to antibiotics, probiotics, phosphorus or trace minerals. We can overcome difficulties not by overusing them, but by using them prudently. At this point, communication between nutritionists and veterinarians needs to be optimized. Because the solution to the problems lies in the correct formulation, and cooperation is essential for this. And the sooner we start doing this, the faster we will move on.

Ugur Kumbet: Another significant, albeit more long-term, issue in the IMEA region that we can observe is related to the heavy use of antibiotics, both in feed and in water, for treatment and growth promotion. This needs to be reduced for the known reasons. Veterinarians, nutritionists and feed producers need to work together on important issues such as pathogen reduction and health improvement. Veterinarians in the field are oftentimes faced with high pathogen pressure and are therefore forced to administer antibiotic treatments via the water. In addition, most countries in the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and Africa still allow the use of antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs), and it all adds up. Fortunately, a lot of countries are already working on banning AGPs and monitoring antibiotic use.

Dr. Alexander Grafe: As Mr. Kümbet has mentioned, the use of antibiotics is an important challenge. Sometimes legal regulations may come later than they should, but one thing we have learned and seen is that with each new regulation, the routines that feeding experts and veterinarians have adapted to must change. On the one hand, without waiting for any legal regulation, producing companies can take a decision to limit the use of antibiotics in feed by approaching the issue proactively. The number of those who can do this is rising. This process took place in Europe as well, and we continue to encounter similar situations in other countries. On the other hand, the awareness level of consumers is increasing, and they have begun to voice their demands for antibiotic-free animal foods more loudly. The food companies sooner or later have to respond to demands of their consumers, so they will want to produce meat without antibiotics even when regulations are not in place yet.

How to overcome this difficulty? How can feed additives have an impact on overcoming these challenges facing the industry?
Ugur Kumbet: In the regions where we are active, we offer alternative solutions and complex approaches based on pre- and probiotics, toxin binders, organic trace minerals, to name just a few. Because it is impossible for one product alone to solve all the problems, we always take advantage of our long-standing experiences and combine our product lines to offer individual solutions for our customers. But a concept that works in one situation does not necessarily work somewhere else. We see large regional differences in the challenges; therefore, we work closely with our country managers, their customers, and even external partners to get the right fit. Just like tailor-made shoes should carry you a lot further than ones off the rack, our products will bring that extra benefit for our customers.

We tried to make this clear in our seminar as well. With products like our TechnoSpore® we can significantly improve feed utilization and gut health. This newly developed probiotic is the first and only EU-registered Bacillus coagulans strain. Or we can use highly efficient trace minerals like our E.C.O.Trace® to reduce the amounts of zinc oxide or copper sulfate in the feed – and consequently in the environment as well. With E.C.O.Trace®, we can address issues such as oxidative stress, immunity, and fertility, supporting the animals safely and efficiently while reducing the environmental impact. Besides supporting animal health, our products are also focused on improving feed efficiency, for example with our TechnoZyme® enzyme range. So, we already see a clear contribution to increase sustainability. Considering the globally increasing demand in animal protein, this becomes especially important.

What are the new trends in poultry nutrition? What alternatives to antibiotics are used?
Ugur Kumbet: Reducing antibiotics and AGPs in poultry nutrition is one of the most important trends of today. At the same time, it is a necessity to reduce the risks of antibiotic resistance. This goes hand in hand with the targeted use of additives such as pre- and probiotics, organic trace minerals, or essential oils and their smart combinations for on-farm-application as alternative concepts . These are already being used in many markets and the results obtained with the use of different combinations deliver convincing results which also satisfy our customers’ demands.

Many producers in our region are keeping up with this trend. We see that both poultry and feed producers are faced with very poor-quality raw materials, posing a threat to gut health and performance. To compensate, effective feed additive solutions are being called for… Nowadays, we see that some companies can produce extremely high quality and efficient final products without using any antibiotics. This is also an important consumer advertising issue. We can show that this can be done with our solutions, and we provide comprehensive support for our customers along the way.

What are your predictions about the future of the industry? What innovations or changes may we encounter in poultry nutrition in the future?
Ugur Kumbet: As Dr. Grafe stated, the limited availability of raw materials is a big problem facing the industry today and in the future. Adding logistics problems to this global issue, the availability of feed raw materials is decreasing, and prices are increasing significantly. The existence of small or medium- sized companies is at risk, and only large-scale enterprises will be able to survive.

Today, manufacturers, acting under the pressure of feed costs, reduce the use of additives or compromise on the quality of additives and raw materials to reduce costs. But this is a significant mistake that will affect production efficiency even further. Unfortunately, production costs are much higher than the return on sales. The situation has been recurring continuously and getting worse for the last 2-3 years. Our approach here is to support the immunity, gut health and feed efficiency of the animals with the use of high-quality feed additives. In this way, yield and quality problems can be overcome, and the balance between the product and production costs can be preserved to some extent.

Finally, what would you like to add?
Ugur Kumbet: In our field, the most important thing is to build mutual trust between customer and supplier. You can’t solve all your customers’ problems with just one product. Regardless of the price, the product you provide must be well explained, proven and effective, and used correctly. You cannot get efficiency from a product otherwise. As Biochem, we, together with our local colleagues, firstly focus on establishing a good connection and relationship with our customers to understand their needs and demands. Afterwards, we offer them targeted and appropriate solutions. Offering products before finding out the existing problems or needs is not the way we work.

Lastly, I would also like to add that we are in an industry where there is intense competition, and unfortunately this competition is moving in the wrong direction. For example, there are a lot of unproven, under-dosed or poor-quality products on the market. I think this is not a good approach for our region.

Dr. Alexander Grafe: The IMEA region is a large and important region for Biochem. There are profound changes taking place and there is a lot we can learn from each other in the process. That is why I am very pleased that so many specialists had the opportunity to participate in our event. It is hopeful for all of us to move step by step in the direction we think is best for the future of the poultry industry in the IMEA market. Let us continue to walk jointly each step of the way, to maintain a good connection and cooperation, and to exchange our ideas and experiences.