Kemin: New plan lays the groundwork for strategic growth
The Iowa-headquartered ingredient company released details about its new vision plan through to 2042 along with a redesigned logo on Sunday [June 16].
Kemin says the plan lays the groundwork for strategic growth and priorities for the company with operations on six continents and a portfolio of more than 500 specialty ingredients.
The intention behind developing and launching a new vision with measurable goals was to help guide the company as it moves forward, said Stefaan Van Dyck, Kemin Industry Inc’s president of animal nutrition and health for Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
“The company has gone through a significant transformation [since it] was founded … transforming into a multinational company,” he told FeedNavigator.
Established in 1961, Kemin is a privately held, family-owned-and-operated company with over 2,800 global employees and operations in 90 countries, including manufacturing facilities in Belgium, Brazil, China, India, Italy, Russia, San Marino, Singapore, South Africa and the US. It is involved in human and animal health and nutrition, aquaculture, pet food, nutraceutical, food technologies, crop technologies and textile industries.
The need to ensure a sustainable transformation was paramount for all involved in drafting the new vision, added Van Dyck.
“All our core technologies and products will play a role.”
Data is also central to the sustainability push, he added.
Product development
Turning to product development, he said Kemin has built up a very broad expertise in botanicals, and it is a field that will remain key for investment by the company, with innovation under that portfolio in the pipeline.
Fermented products are also on the Kemin’s radar, he said. “When you talk about new ingredients, fermentation is a key technology.”
Kemin has already started developing its own probiotics and enzymes using that process, Van Dyck said. “It’s not just traditional fermentation – we also look at broadening that and going into the fermentation of microorganisms that produce enzymes and are also moving into algae – that is one thing that is based on existing technology that we continue to broaden and deepen.”
Kemin has been involved in work to reduce the use of antibiotic growth promoters in animal production and the expertise it garnered from European production is leveraged in that respect.
“We use that experience to facilitate change in the rest of the world,” he said. “We know that the abundant use of antibiotics in feed is a significant health risk for humans.”
Kemin looks to ensure that a reduction in the use of antibiotics can be implemented in a cost-efficient way, he added.
On the production side, it is aiming for a reduction of energy consumption at the feed mill.
