Austrian firm Biomin was established in 1983 and started its business researching and producing the world's first-generation mycotoxin adsorbent. Since its establishment, Biomin has been active in the global feedstuff industry and dedicated itself to developing and producing feedstuff additives and premix compounds. Amid delivering technical services to clients, its mission is to improve livestock health, growth and quality in a natural and efficient manner. For over 30 years, Biomin has pioneered innovative solutions for mycotoxin risk management. By applying state-of-the-art technologies and carrying out extensive research and development to develop sustainable solutions, it delivers natural, sustainable and profitable solutions to the swine, poultry, ruminant and aquaculture sectors.

From 30-31 October 2017, Biomin hosted the grand opening ceremony of its latest plant and the Asia Nutrition Forum in Wuxi, China. Over 500 distinguished guests attended the opening ceremony, visited the Wuxi plant and participated in the Asia Nutrition Forum. The theme of the biennial forum this year was "driving the Asian protein economy". At the forum, founder of Biomin Dr. Erich Erber delivered the welcome address to the top global experts in attendance. The session provided an in-depth discussion of the challenges in food processing, the animal health and nutrition industry, and touched on the development trend of poultry, swine and dairy cow production. Dr. Erber also gave an overview of the influence of antibiotic-free livestock production on future opportunities of the Asian protein economy.

During the event, Multinationals in China conducted an interview with Dr Erich Erber, Founder and President, Erber AG, of which Biominis a part, Dr Jan Vanbrabant, Chairman of Executive Board, CEO, Erber AG, Dr Hannes Binder, Managing Director, Biomin Holding GmbH, Mr. Marc Guinnement, Managing Director, Biomin Asia-Pacific and Mr. Jack An, Managing Director, Biomin China.. The senior executives shared detailed insights into the latest developments of Biominboth globally and in China.

"Biomin was established in Austria in 1983, and now we have 50 own business units, 11 production facilities and 5 regional business units across the world. We currently employ over 1,500 excellent staff, with an extensive research network comprising of over 200 international colleges, universities and research firms. We are proud to serve clients in over 120 countries. At Biomin, we are dedicated to developing and producing feed additives and premix compounds while providing technical services to our clients to improve livestock health and performance in a natural, efficient manner. We strive to deliver natural, sustainable and profitable solutions to the swine, poultry, ruminant and aquaculture industries. For over 30 years, Biomin has been devoted to the research of mycotoxins, aiming at providing a series of target-oriented and innovative solutions for mycotoxin degradation and deactivation," said Dr. Binder.

"At Biomin and Erber Group we are guided by the "3Ss". The first S is Science. Science is the core value we deliver to our clients as well as the critical part of our expertise. Biomin lives and breathes science. In 1992, Erber Group acquired Romer Labs. Although the lab possessed limited technological capability at that time, we developed the lab continuously over the years and now, Romer Labs has become a leading global supplier of diagnostic solutions for food and feed safety.

The second S is Service. Science acts as a base, but needs be refined and perfected by service to maximise its utility for clients. Since 2004, Biomin has been conducting the annual Biomin Mycotoxin Survey, the longest running and most comprehensive survey of its kind. For this survey, Biomin cooperates with Romer Labs, and we also offer a complimentary testing of feed samples for over 380 types of mycotoxins to our clients. As part of the survey program, Biomin periodically releases quarterly global mycotoxin reports that provide insights into the incidence of the six major mycotoxins in the agricultural commodities used for livestock feed in order to identify the potential risk posed to livestock animal production in various regions across different species.

Finally, the last S is Speed. We value speed highly in multiple service and innovation aspects. First, we give clients a fast feedback and a timely solution to meet their requests. We have established an extensive and robust sales network across the world, through which we quickly deliver cutting-edge technologies and products to clients. Second, we drive innovation in a continuous and rapid way so that state-of-the-art technologies and quality products can be rolled out to the markets quickly.

Since the development of the first generation mycotoxin adsorbent, Biomin has successfully released five generations of mycotoxin adsorbent, degradation and deactivation solutions under the Mycofix^® product line. Mycofix^® is the world's first and only mycotoxin deactivation product with a purified enzyme that has achieved EU authorisation. Mycofix^® is widely applied to feed, and its efficacy has been verified in scientific trials and on numerous farms across the world. We have also developed another innovative product, a multi-strain synbiotic consisting of both pre- and probiotics that is poultry-specific. This is a testament to the never-ending innovation of Biomin," said Dr. Erber.

"Biomin is committed to overcoming the increasing challenges of food and feed production, especially in regards to the safety aspect. A rising middle class in many countries has led to a stronger-than-ever demand for safe, healthy and nutritious food. Consequently, producers also turn their attention towards this growing demand. In the face of rising consumer concerns about antibiotics, producers are feeling the pressure to reduce the use of antibiotics as well.

Biomin solutions are tailored to provide producers tools to enhance their feed and livestock productions naturally, and can play a key role in a program with the aim of reducing or eliminating the use of antibiotics. Biomin is also committed to social responsibility. We actively promote food safety and sustainable development, and we utilise renewable energy sources throughout the organisation. We are proud to have achieved ISO 14040 life cycle assessment by the US Environmental Protection Agency," added Dr. Vanbrabant.

"At Biomin, we strive to meet the highest standards in many aspects of hygiene, product safety, raw material traceability, manufacturing process and end product development. We stress the importance of a long-term relationship and stable cooperation with reliable suppliers to ensure the superior quality of our products. Next to this, we conduct strict quality control of all raw materials and products, which is critical to our production," he continued.

"Biomin stands on the leading position in the industry, with a great corporate culture, while delivering cutting-edge technologies and products, and operates with a passionate team. Although Biomin has its roots in Austria, we have since gained recognition locally in China as a leading provider of mycotoxin risk management and gut performance solutions for over a decade. The opening of our Wuxi plant signifies a major milestone of Biomin China, and we will further enhance its service capacity and enrich product lines. We want to be the window and bridge connecting the East and the West, by introducing global experiences, technologies and the business concept of livestock husbandry to China, and help our clients scale to newer heights. Over the past few years, we have achieved accelerated growth. The annual business volume has increased at a double-digit rate. From now on, we expect to keep the growth at a rate over 25%," said Mr. An.

"China, which tops rankings in terms of scale in many aspects, impresses me greatly: globally, China's feedstuff production ranks first, its total population and middle class population also rank first. We have high expectations for our business of serving clients in the Chinese market, and we will set a long-term development objective in consideration of the change of the agricultural environment next. We are very pleased with the results of Mycofix^®, our mycotoxin risk management solution, which enjoys a high level of acceptance and trust from our clients in the swine sector in China.

In the poultry sector, we have expanded into relationships with large-scale integrators, and we have also successfully developed our business in the dairy cow sector as well. Not forgetting aquaculture, for which we have a strategy in place. Beyond satisfying the market demands, we are committed to enriching our product lines with a reliable and robust production capacity," said Mr. Guinnement.

Biomin taps into the power of science to improve livestock health and industry efficiency and delivers natural, sustainable and profitable solutions with cutting-edge patented technologies to swine, poultry, ruminant and aquaculture industries. With forward-looking thinking, Biomin will focus on efficient and sustainable utilisation of resources, safety of food and feedstuff, environmental impact and contribute towards meeting the livestock protein product demands from the increasing global population in future.

This item originally appeared in China Economic Information.