Livestock

Enviva DUO is a direct-fed microbial solution for poultry production. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

IFF recently announced the launch of Enviva DUO, a groundbreaking direct-fed microbial (DFM) solution for poultry production

The solution constitutes innovative blend of two non-spore forming bacterial strains designed to address challenging conditions by supporting the growth of beneficial gut bacteria. Moreover, the solution also encourages a favorable nutribiotic state and promotes optimal bird performance. Its direct dosing strategy ensures that challenged birds receive the microbiomeboosting benefits of Enviva DUO, despite a decrease in feed intake.

Scientific research also supports the efficacy of Enviva DUO and demonstrates its ability to restore the bird's microbiome, improve gut conditions, and promote the growth of beneficial bacteria. Its stable formulation disperses evenly in water distribution systems, preventing sedimentation or build-up, and ensuring uniform and consistent delivery to the flock, thereby maintaining operational efficiency.

The solution which is currently available to poultry integrators and large farm complexes across the US, will also expand to other regions that are pending regulatory approvals.

This development enables the food industry to keep pace with growing protein demands. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Foodtech innovator Ever After Foods partners with Bühler to help food producers around the world mass produce cultivated meat with the highest efficiency

While Bühler aims to address increasingly complex food system challenges, reduce environmental impact and improve food security through the development of equipment, Ever After Foods provides the technology to deliver commercial-scale production systems specifically designed to meet the needs of the cultivated meat sector. Cultivated meat producers can now reduce production costs by more than 90% while achieving unparalleled production efficiency.

Dedicated to leading a new era of scalability and sustainability for cultivated meat, Ever After Foods is working closely with select cultivated meat companies and top leaders in the food industry to accelerate the development and global deployment of its proprietary edible packed-bed (EPB) technology platform. Ever After Foods is actively creating scalable production solutions for clients, and its collaboration with Bühler will pave the way for dedicated and continued support of production solutions in the sector.

“The cultivated meat industry must move beyond relying on pharma-based technologies and adopt solutions specifically designed for food production,” said CEO of Ever After Foods, Eyal Rosenthal. “Our strategic collaboration with Bühler, a global leader in food equipment, is a critical step toward delivering scalable and efficient technologies that empower cultivated meat producers and food companies to bring their products to market. Together, we are driving the development of tailored solutions to sustainably scale cultivated meat production.”

PUPIL AI vision technology, SmartBase software and HMI touchscreen control all add intelligence to the VC-i. (Image source: Marel)

Primary poultry processing receives a revolutionary upgrade with Marel introducing the world's first intelligent vent cutter—VC-i

The vent cutter's job in the primary poultry process is to drill out the cloaca without damaging the intestines and hang it over the back of the carcass. Being the first operation performed inside the product, vent cutting needs to be done with surgical precision and hygiene. This is because mistakes cannot be corrected by the remaining operations in the evisceration line.

The Marel VC-i vent cutter sets a new benchmark in accuracy by meticulously drilling out the cloaca without touching the intestines, thereby preventing any soiling or contamination. Designed to optimise hygiene, efficiency and automation, the VC-i eliminates manual adjustments and ensures precise, contamination-free vent cutting. This precision is driven by PUPIL (Precision Unified Processing with Intelligent Learning) AI vision technology, which provides real-time insight into the machine’s performance, ensuring that cloacas are extracted and positioned correctly.

Promoting automation

Advanced features including the HMI touchscreen allows users to set the VC-i on-the-fly with a few taps. Pre-defined recipes are controlling the automatic machine settings to achieve optimal parameters, such as drill depth and product positioning, for the incoming flock. Thanks to these digital machine settings, manual adjustments based on guesswork are a thing of the past. PUPIL visually monitors performance, eliminating human error and ensuring consistent, high-quality results irrespective of significant variations in bird weights and sizes.

Automated adjustments along with PUPIL AI monitoring maintain high performance across all shifts and flocks, even with wide weight ranges. Internal SmartBase software contributes to VC-i’s consistency by monitoring the machine’s health in real time. It offers early warning alerts on performance at both machine level and unit level, enabling proactive adjustments and maintenance.

Prioritising hygiene

When it comes to VC-i design, soiling or contamination is strictly unacceptable. The open structure of the 20 newly developed, robust carousel units not only reduces wear and tear, but also residue buildup and contamination risk, while offering enhanced cleanability. After each operation, the individual drill units are thoroughly cleaned by their own spray washers. The VC-i’s vacuum system also adds to hygiene by removing initial feces from the intestines, preventing soiling of the clean process and contamination in downstream processes. Moreover, to save water, empty shackles are identified by the smart product detection system and switched off. 

The company's egg flow control systems offer a comprehensive and groundbreaking approach to smart egg collection. (Image source: Hotraco Agri)

Global leader in innovation farm automation, Hotraco Agri recently announced its participation in the 2025 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) scheduled to take place from 28-30 January in Atlanta, Georgia

Hotraco Agri will present three next-generation products and systems developed to optimise every aspect of farm management, setting new industry standards in egg flow control. These groundbreaking solutions are designed to boost efficiency and profit, enhance animal welfare, and simplify operations.  

The company's egg flow control systems offer a comprehensive and groundbreaking approach to smart egg collection, setting new standards for optimising processes at both barn and farm levels. At the barn level, the new Antares Egg controller ensures smooth egg flow by synchronising belt speeds, reducing shell damage, and minimising labour requirements. Equipped with a user-friendly 7-inch touchscreen, it provides real-time insights into egg production with 99.5% accuracy, making it easy to monitor and adjust operations as needed. 

For organisations with multiple barns, the Fortica MAX - centralised egg collection (CEC) solution elevates egg flow management by coordinating outputs across barns. This system adjusts for production fluctuations, ensuring a consistent flow to centralised processing points. The result is reduced downtime, less egg breakage, and more efficient packing and grading. Both integrate seamlessly into new or existing farm setups and operations and offers specialised solutions for barn and farm-level egg flow control. 

Attendees can feel free to meet experts available at Booth B18042 to provide demonstrations and discuss tailored solutions for farming operations.