NOVUS accelerates its feed enzyme development with the appointment of Julien Kanarek as global lead, bringing nearly 20 years of expertise in animal nutrition and feed additive strategies. This move strengthens NOVUS’s position in innovative enzyme solutions for sustainable livestock production.
Julien Kanarek, who has nearly 20 years of experience in animal nutrition, biotechnologies, and feed additive market strategizing, has joined the intelligent nutrition company NOVUS as the global leader in feed enzymes. He joined the company during a time of growth and innovation for its enzymes portfolio.
Recently, NOVUS purchased BioResource International, Inc. (BRI), to gain full control of its CIBENZA® enzyme feed additive product line and began a development partnership with Ginkgo Bioworks. Teams also hosted educational workshops for customers on the hidden risk in soybean meal (an anti-nutritional factor known as trypsin inhibitor). Last month, the company shared a new white paper, Outsmarting Trypsin Inhibitors.
Kanarek emphasizes that NOVUS is right by increasing its focus on enzymes. With feed costs as one of the highest budget lines for pig and poultry producers, ongoing economic shifts, and constraints when it comes to raw material options, strategic decisions must be made. According to Kanarek, one well-known applied strategy to get more from feed ingredients is enzyme technology.
“What I find exciting is that enzymes have not shown us their full potential yet. The world of anti-nutritional factors also hasn’t been fully defined and explored,” he says. “NOVUS has been studying these aspects for over a decade but in the last year we’re seeing an acceleration in interest from the academic community. So, we have 10 years of enzymes and trypsin inhibitor research that helped us to build a solid database of soybean profiles from around the world. Now we will also look at leveraging what researchers who have taken an interest in this subject are finding and add that knowledge to our own understanding.”
Kanarek states that NOVUS is committed to putting all the pieces together to create services and solutions that support the customer. “There is no one single enzyme that can solve every problem,” he says. “It has to be the right cocktail of biotechnologies with an adapted application. For that, we need to understand our customers’ context and challenges so we can build robust, reliable and sustainable solutions for them.”
Laura Munoz, Senior Director of Global Strategic Marketing at NOVUS, believes that Kanarek’s leadership will be key as NOVUS continues to strengthen its enzyme business. She says: “Through acquisitions and innovation projects, NOVUS has taken big steps to demonstrate our commitment to the feed enzymes sector. Julien’s global perspectives on the current market and strategic concepts on how the animal agriculture industry will use enzymes in the future will help us build a portfolio of solutions and services for today and tomorrow.”
Prior to joining NOVUS, Kanarek served as Marketing Manager – Poultry and Regional Category Manager for Europe at Adisseo; Global Business Segment Leader – Poultry at Danisco Animal Nutrition and Health, part of International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF); and Global Category Manager at Avril. He has master’s degrees in animal nutrition and health from UniLaSalle in France with a specialization in comparative animal nutrition from University of California-Davis in the United States.
