Arent ARNOUT, Sales Director ACTIPRO:
“RELIABLE, HEALTHY, SUSTAINABLE AND AFFORDABLE”

“The majority of animal feed producers and people in the feed industry are convinced about the added value of using animal proteins in feed. Animal proteins are a safe, healthy, sustainable and affordable alternative to fish meal, vegetable proteins, antibiotics and zinc oxide. Despite all benefits of animal proteins, some feed producers are reluctant to use animal proteins in their diets due to several reasons. A big hurdle in some countries is the local government legislation that forbids the use of animal proteins in feed. Sometimes, the demand for feeding animals with pure vegetable diets is raised by the supermarkets and fast food chains.”
VEOS Group is one of the top 3 companies in the world that produces animal protein. It transforms by-products in the food chain into animal proteins that are also valuable for the food and feed industry: such as plasma and hemoglobin powder from blood, egg powder from egg by-products, collagen production from the skin… VEPRO offers its products to the use of the food sector and ACTIPRO to the use of the feed sector. The company operates in more than 80 countries on 6 continents, and thanks to this global network, it did not have any problems in procurement, even during the global crisis, such as Covid-19.
We discussed with the Sales Director Arent ARNOUT regarding the ACTIPRO brand of the company, which continues on its way with nearly half a century of experience. ARNOUT answered our questions on many issues such as Veos Group, product types, and global structuring of the company.
The most remarkable lines of this interview are what ARNOUT shared about the use of animal proteins in animal feed.
Emphasizing that animal proteins are safe, healthy, sustainable and affordable alternatives, ARNOUT stated that most of the feed industry representatives are more willing to use animal-based proteins, but in some countries, both the legal regulations and the perception created by supermarket and fastfood chains pose a significant obstacle.
Mr. Arent ARNOUT gives details about Veos Group and the uses of animal protein in the feed industry:
Mr. Arnout, before we start talking about ACTIPRO, can we get to know a little about VEOS Group? Could you inform us about your production areas, your brands, your worldwide organization and the general goals of your company?
The VEOS Group is a family owned company that extracts and concentrates valuable animal proteins from blood, eggs and skins being collected as by-products from the foodchain. Our story started in the year 1974 with the production of blood products in Belgium where the company headquarters is still based. In those times, we were one of the pioneers converting blood collected from slaughterhouses into functional proteins like plasma and hemoglobin powder. Besides the production of blood products, the VEOS Group also produces egg powder from by-products of the egg industry. Different grades of egg powder are being produced such as whole egg, egg white and egg yolk powder. The third and most recent activity is the production of collagen from skins.
Today, the VEOS Group is among top 3 players in the world for both blood products and inedible egg powder. With several production plants located in Belgium, France, Poland and Brazil, we are globally present and are selling our products to more than 80 countries on 6 continents. We market our products under our brand names VEPRO for food applications and ACTIPRO for feed and pet food applications. The high functional animal proteins of VEPRO offer strong solutions for the meat processing industry by improving the quality of meat products, giving a natural meat colour and providing a firmer structure. With our ACTIPRO brand, we supply the animal feed and pet food market with our functional and highly digestible animal proteins. It’s the intention of the VEOS Group to be globally known as the reference for functional animal proteins.
How much of your brand ACTIPRO, which produces animal proteins for the feed industry, represents the service and production network of VEOS Group? What is ACTIPRO’s place in VEOS Group?
The ACTIPRO brand represents the most significant part of our business, because we are producing our feed and pet food grade products in all our plants. Thanks to this global production network, we can offer our customers a high reliability of supply. Certainly in times of uncertainty like COVID-19 and geopolitical tensions, the reliability of supply has proved to be very important.
Let’s talk about the production side a little bit. As ACTIPRO, which protein types do you produce for which feed types / animal groups? What can you say about the shares of these groups in your production?
Our ACTIPRO blood products and egg powder are generally used as functional and highly digestible animal proteins in pet food and feed for different species like fish, shrimp, pigs, poultry, ruminants and mink. All our proteins are highly digestible thanks to the gentle spray drying technology. During spray drying, the proteins are dried for a short period of time at moderate temperature which keeps the proteins unharmed and retains their bio-availability. For instance blood meal on the contrary is contact dried at high temperatures for a prolonged period of time, but this intensive way of drying damages the proteins and reduces protein digestibility within the animal. A recent conducted field trial in rainbow trout showed the apparent total tract digestibility of crude protein to be 94% with hemoglobin and 50% for blood meal. Hence, we may say that the way of processing has a big influence on protein digestibility and as a consequence protein evaluation and selection by nutritionists.
Hemoglobin powder, also known as red cells, is often used as a highly digestible animal protein source in fish, shrimp, broiler and mink feeds. Especially fish and shrimp feed producers are actively looking for sustainable alternatives for fish meal with a similar high digestibility figures and hemoglobin powder meets these requirements. Within dairy cows, the use of hemoglobin powder has positive effects on the milk production and the fat and protein levels of the milk. In wet pet food, hemoglobin is a colourant and could for instance replace caramel.
Plasma powder improves the feed palatability and gut health within young animals with positive effects on overall performance and mortality. Thanks to the presence of antibodies and other bio-active molecules, plasma powder is considered as an in-feed alternative to prophylactic antibiotics and zinc oxide. The main use of plasma powder will be in piglet starter diets facilitating profitable weaning. In sow diets, plasma may improve the farrowing rate and the average piglet weight at weaning. Thanks to the trend in the industry to reduce antibiotics, we also notice worldwide an increased interest and use of plasma powder in fish, shrimp and poultry starter feeds. Outside the European Union, plasma powder is included in calve milk replacers for calves that have not received adequate colostrum. Besides the health promoting properties, plasma is also known as an irreversible gelling agent improving the chunk texture and overall palatability in wet pet food.
Globin powder is our patented oil-in-water emulsifier that improves the fat digestibility and thus energy efficiency in feed. In broilers, the primary limiting factor of fat digestion is insufficient production of bile salts. Hence, optimal utilization of broiler feed requires a dietary emulsifier like globin powder. Not only in broiler feeds, but also in piglet and shrimp diets our globin powder is added as an emulsifier.
Egg powder is a very interesting natural ingredient as it combines different functionalities. First of all egg powder supplies dietary essential nutrients like amino acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamins A, D and choline. Besides its nutritional value, egg powder is also a rich source of bio-active components that can promote animal health and well-being. Finally, egg powder is also a technical aid in pet food and feed production thanks to its emulsifying and gelation properties. The biggest market for egg powder is pet food, but we notice an increased use of egg powder in piglet starter feed thanks to the benefits for piglet health.
Do all the products you produce consist of protein of animal origin? What is the prevalence of use of animal-derived proteins in feeds?
The VEOS Group only produces proteins of animal origin. Our egg powder is obviously produced from poultry origin. In our blood product facilities, we have dedicated production lines for both bovine blood products and porcine blood products. There is no cross contamination between our bovine and porcine production lines as most customers request 100% DNA origin due to the local legislation or religious reasons.
The majority of animal feed producers and people in the feed industry are convinced about the added value of using animal proteins in feed. Animal proteins are a safe, healthy, sustainable and affordable alternative to fish meal, vegetable proteins, antibiotics and zinc oxide. Despite all benefits of animal proteins, some feed producers are reluctant to use animal proteins in their diets due to several reasons. A big hurdle in some countries is the local government legislation that forbids the use of animal proteins in feed. Sometimes, the demand for feeding animals with pure vegetable diets is raised by the supermarkets and fast food chains. I think that big multinationals have used a 100% vegetable diet as a marketing argument and this has generally influenced the public opinion about animal proteins. But how can companies like McDonald’s claim to be sustainable if they don’t allow their chickens to be fed with animal proteins? I don’t understand that in Europe they prefer to use soy meal from the other side of the world rather than using animal proteins that are locally available. This can only mean that they are not serious about their sustainability and circular economy claims.
What is the place and importance of such proteins in animal nutrition? What are the benefits of animal-based proteins used in feed in terms of nutrition, productivity and health?
I notice several industry trends within animal health and the type of proteins used. First of all high digestible proteins become more and more important as undigested protein in the gut may affect animal’s health due to bacterial fermentation and pathogen overgrowth. Another trend is the wish to reduce the prophylactic use of antibiotics and zinc oxide within animal feed.
Blood products and egg powder greatly meet these industry health trends. All our products have a very high protein digestibility thanks to the gentle spray drying technology. Further are plasma and egg powder natural sources of bio-active components providing passive mucosal immunity against viral and bacterial pathogens. Plasma contains immunoglobulins IgG and plasma-borne growth factors that stimulates gut maturation and strengthen the intestinal barrier. In the literature, several studies can be found about the use of plasma in different animal species with positive effects on animal health, mortality and growth performance.
Another important contribution to animal health is the absence in animal proteins of anti-nutritional factors that negatively affect nutrient absorption. Vegetable proteins generally contain high levels of anti-nutritional factors and even mycotoxins that can harm the health of animals.
Demand for animal-based food production is growing rapidly around the world. In order to meet this demand, sustainability is becoming an increasingly important issue both in animal husbandry and in feed production. According to your opinion, how do your products contribute to the industry in terms of sustainability?
The sustainability aspect will in the near future take a prominent role in the evaluation and selection of raw materials in feed, next to the existing nutritional, productivity and health criteria. Animal proteins contribute largely to these sustainability requirements in contrast to vegetable proteins, fish meal, antibiotics and zinc oxide. Recycled valuable animal proteins have a much lower carbon footprint than vegetable proteins that are grown specifically for animal feed. There are also fewer concerns about indirect land use change, particularly the effect of soy production on tropical rainforests. The pressure on wild fisheries will also reduce by using animal proteins instead of fish meal.
Thanks to the spray drying technology used for the production of blood products and egg powder, the proteins are highly digestible and as a consequence there will be less environmental pollution in terms of nitrogen emission. Plasma powder is a sustainable alternative for antibiotics and zinc oxide in feed. Hence, plasma contributes to the reduction of the level of antibiotic resistant bacteria and zinc excretion in the environment.

Could you please talk a little bit about your future goals, plans, and new products, if any, that you will put on the market?
We are constructing a new production plant of blood products in Spain and the intention is to start production during the second trimester of this year. Spain is one of Europe’s most important countries for animal-based food production and for the VEOS Group it is of strategic importance to be present there.
Together with our R&D team we are always looking to new application for our existing product portfolio and performing field trials, but of course we are also developing new products that we launch on the market.

Finally, what would you like to add?
In most continents, the inclusion of animal proteins is a certainty in feed formulations. However, there is still work in order to change the opinion of decision makers at governments, supermarkets and fast food chains about animal proteins. As sustainability and health will become more and more important in daily life, I sincerely hope public opinion will embrace valuable animal proteins as a safe, healthy, sustainable and affordable raw material within animal feed.