Far Eastern Agriculture speaks with BK Chew, ADM Animal Nutritions vice president for feed additives, ingredients, amino acids in the APAC region, regarding the companys latest developments, product range and market growth, at VIV Asia 2023
Far Eastern Agriculture (FEAG):
Can you tell me a bit about your company?
BK Chew (VP APAC - ADM):
We are a fortune 50 company, headquartered in Chicago. We have three main divisions – agriculture services and oilseeds, carbohydrate solutions, and nutrition. Also, within nutrition, we have human nutrition and animal nutrition. What you see here at VIV is animal nutrition. In terms of our global R&D, we have more than 140 scientists, technicians and employees dedicated to animal nutrition R&D alone. We also have over 40 partnerships with universities in 17 countries, along with 13 R&D and applied research centres. For example, we have a very well-equipped, well-organised R&D centre in Vietnam and an Upscience lab located both in Vietnam and China.
FEAG:
How has your experience at VIV Asia been like? Have you attended the show before?
BK Chew:
Yes, I have been coming to VIV Asia for 20 years, and I would say, it is one of the most important and prominent events in Asia. The good thing is that after the COVID restrictions, we can now assemble again in the industry to meet with our customers.
FEAG:
Could you shed some light on the general move towards digitalisation and optimisation of processes, which appears to be a trend at the moment?
BK Chew:
The focus for us is to make our facilities more efficient, and that goes with automation. With this, comes the need to train workers to be more sophisticated in their ways of working, as well as being able to understand the machines. Hence, rather than being a trend, it is more of something we focus on.
FEAG:
What is your view on the Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) that is going on?
BK Chew:
This is one area that is very important to us. As you know, the restriction in the use of AGPs in Europe happened about 16 years ago. In Asia, on the other hand, quite a number of the governments have already imposed policies to restrict the use of AGPs in the last six to seven years. At ADM, we have functional nutrition solutions to look at, as a replacement or an alternative to the use of antibiotics. Moreover, I believe this topic needs to be approached in a holistic manner.
When you see a customer with the desire to replace their AGPs, one of the first things we need to do is to look at the current antibiotic resistance. It is not uncommon, in Thailand for example, to have up to 80-90% resistance to a certain antibiotic family. At ADM, we are definitely very customer focused. Our aim is to fully understand the current challenges that our customers face, to ensure that we can offer them the kind of holistic solutions we feel will greatly benefit them.
We have our assets here in China and Vietnam. So we will, of course, want to use our assets locally in Asia. Also, to produce premixes and blends for customers in Asia is a lot more efficient and environmentally friendly.
FEAG:
What is your plan to achieve economic and environmental sustainability?
BK Chew:
Sustainability is a pillar of ADM’s growth strategy, and a foundation of our purpose as a company. We understand that customers and consumers increasingly expect sustainable production and responsible sourcing across food and agriculture value chains. We are mapping our pathway to net zero and making investments to ensure we can stay the course and achieve our long-term goals and commitments.
Our ambitious Strive 35 plan targets energy use, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water use and waste management including reducing Scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions by 25% from 2019 baseline, reducing energy intensity 15% over a 2019 baseline, reducing our water intensity by 10% over our 2019 baseline, and beneficially reusing or otherwise diverting 90% of waste from landfill, all by 2035. We also have set a goal to be deforestation-free by 2025.
Additionally, ADM Animal Nutrition continually strives to help famers and producers maximise animal performance and minimise their environmental impact. Our animal nutrition solutions support performance targets while reducing the environmental impact of production by maintaining efficiency and lowering total costs. We also support animal welfare practices that improve the health of animals and the planet, as well as the well-being of the people and communities that supply our raw materials and ingredients.
FEAG:
How has the pre and post COVID market growth been like for ADM?
BK Chew:
The last two years have been difficult for everyone, especially with the supply chain disruptions and price fluctuations. We have to be innovative in our approach to customers. Ultimately, it is efficiency. So, the approach should not always focus on prices and products. We have to really think outside the box to support our customers' needs.
FEAG:
What makes ADM stand out from other competitors?
BK Chew:
As I mentioned earlier, we are not just operating in the animal nutrition space, but also in other areas of raw material trading. So as a company, we are different in the way that we are able to offer customers a lot more in terms of linkages, connections and expertise within our group.
FEAG:
Would you like to talk about any of your products?
BK Chew:
Regarding our products, we have our ISO fusion technology, where the encapsulation is very important. With high pelleting temperatures, products can become unstable. So our technology and encapsulation has really given customers a lot of confidence to use our consistent, stable nutrition products.
For example, a product that has gotten a lot of attention lately is NEXTEND. The advantage of this product is that, once the layers and breeders reach peak production, this product is able to maintain the rate of lay and also increase by one to two saleable chicks per hen housed in broiler breeder. Moreover, since the cost of day-old chicks is high, many breeder companies are looking for solutions for their breeders to produce more chicks by 65 weeks of age. We are really happy to see that our customers are able to get what they really need now, especially with current costs and tight supply of chicks.
